You Belong With Me
by Lena xo
Summary: Seth Clearwater's got to find some way to tell his best friend that not only is he a werewolf, but he's imprinted on her. Meanwhile she's fallen for someone else, and Seth is expected to stand by and watch... Seth/OC
1. Chapter I

**You Belong With Me**

_A Seth Imprint Story_

**AN: This is my first 'official' fanfic, and I've had it in my head for awhile so it's good to finally get it down on paper :) I was going to finish the whole story first and then upload it, but I can't decide whether to scrap the whole thing and start again. Can you please leave a review and tell me if you like it or not? Much appreciated :)**

**It's not that hard to tell what the theme song for this story is.**

**Team Seth forever**

**Lena xo**

*****

I heard someone call my name. I turned around.

*****

Stupid science, I thought as I reluctantly looked down to the paper in front of me. Who can focus on chemical equations when she's right there, only two seats in front of me? I looked up and watched the back of her head. Brown hair, but right now the afternoon sun was on her hair and it her hair had natural golden – literally _golden_ – tints in it. It was beautiful.

I felt an elbow hit me in the ribs.

"Seth, you've got 'the face' on again," said Colin.

"Yeah, ok," I muttered. Her hand strayed up to her hair, running her fingers through it and combing it back. The sunlight reflected…

" Dude, you're _drooling_," said Brady. Suddenly he laughed and whispered, "Watch this...

"OI! KAYLIE!"

I watched as she turned around and smiled. She looked so beautiful when she smiled. Not that she didn't look beautiful all the time, but it meant she was happy.

I've sacrificed a lot to make sure she was happy.

Brady wolf-whistled (no pun intended) and Colin waved. I rolled my eyes apologetically and she laughed, then turned back to face the front. The sun's rays hit her hair just right again, showing off the blonde.

"Damnit," muttered Colin. "Seth, listen to me. You can't go on like this."

I looked up. "Yes. I can."

"No, you can't. This imprinting stuff is powerful shit, and it's hurting you Seth. You don't let on about it but…" he lowered his voice. "I know better, we _all _know better. We see it every time you phase. You have to do something."

I took a deep breath in, and then exhaled.

"Not here," I finally muttered. "Not now."

"Fine," snapped Colin uncharacteristically. "But you can't keep burying this and pretending it's not here."

I didn't answer.

xXx

"Hey." Finally, it was over. School, I mean. I could talk to her again.

"Hey Seth," a bright smile, just for me. "I hate balancing equations. I mean you just sit there and throw in numbers and hope it works! Did you get it at all?"

She had big light-brown eyes, almost hazel, which looked almost strange against her copper skin. At the same time her eyes were awful though… sometimes when they looked at me, I hate to use a cliché but it was like she could see right through me, through every single lie I'd ever said.

"Yupp. Don't worry, I'll help you out tonight, I'm still comin' over, right?" _Unless you've got other plans_, I added mentally.

"Yeah, course we're still on," she grinned. "Eat _before_ you come though. Not that it'll make much of a difference. Last time – and I use the quote "eat us out of house and home" – you cleared our fridge out clean. I really don't know how Emily can afford to feed you alone, let alone the rest of the pack."

To her, 'the pack' was just a nickname for our gang, it didn't have any real relevance to her, she didn't really understand what it meant…

"Buy more food next time," I muttered. I tried to stifle a yawn but it didn't work, and she laughed again. I loved being the one making her laugh, and making her smile...

"Hey babe."

And that was the end. I didn't groan, but I came close.

He was as tall as I was, perfectly built of course being the football jock of the school. Blond hair, green eyes, and the swagger of a guy who knows every girl in a three mile radius is crushing on him...

Ok so the last bit wasn't true… in all honestly, Kamal was a great guy. He was funny, athletic and he wasn't book smart, but he was a good guy. Someone I normally would've considered a friend. But in these circumstances, things were different.

Kamal didn't swagger.

But girls certainly _did_ crush on him, even if he didn't realise it.

Including this one…

"Hi," she leaned over and kissed him on the cheek as he wrapped his arm around her waist. I smiled, ignoring what made me feel like someone had slipped a knife under my ribs.

"Are you going to the game tonight, Lee?" he leaned into her neck, taking a deep breath and tightening his arms around her.

"Oh, shoot," she muttered, giving me a guilty look as she put her arms around his neck. "I'm sorry, I know I promised but I can't go."

"That's ok," I said. "It was j—"

"No," Kaylie cut in. "I'm sorry Kamal, I can't go to the game. I'm kinda busy tonight, but I promise I'll be there for all your semi's and stuff. I mean this is only qualifying rounds, right?"

My heart had flipped and despite what was in front of me, everything felt perfect. She'd chosen me over him.

"Yeah," said Kamal. He'd stopped moving though. "Are you doing something tonight with Seth?" he spoke to her but he was looking at me.

"Yeah. Seth's helping me with my rem work. I'm sorry Kamal but you know what my Mum's like…"

"Yeah, course. Don't worry about it, baby. These _are _only the minor games anyway. The team'll win these rounds hands down. As long as you're there for the important stuff."

He was still watching me as he slowly placed his lips at the base of her throat, and his hands slid down over her shoulders, down her arms and onto her waist.

My hands had somehow curled into fists and were clenched together so hard you could see the veins on the back of my hands. They began to tremble as the anger rose up inside of me.

_No. Not here!_ I wanted to scream.

_She's too close to me! She could get hurt!_

I used the one image that had saved me from phasing so many times – imagining Kaylie covered in the scars that Emily had. I hated using it – Sam had done so much for Emily, and she had forgiven him… but as soon as I thought of it my hands stopped shaking, my whole body relaxed and I could breathe again.

Kamal lived for another day.

Kaylie smiled as she ran her fingers through his hair and kissed him on the forehead. "Don't you dare, Kamal. I have to get home before my mother has a heart attack and you have football training."

"It's not training," he corrected, lifting his head and reaching up and taking one of her hands in his. "It's a prep from the coach. Just some light warming up and a bit of fun to ease the tension. We're hosting tonight's game so we don't have to travel or anything."

Kaylie laughed, "Well, whatever it's called you better get going. I'll see you tomorrow." At that moment they both looked at me. I couldn't see Kamal's face quite clearly then but I could see Kaylie's. The two of them were holding hands and she was smiling. High school gossip was right – they _did_ look good together, but the most important thing was… she was happy.

And that was the real reason I lived this lie each day.

And the reason I had lived this lie for the past two years.

**AN: Thanks to Indie and Miss_Alice_Swan for your help! **

**Also, I KNOW Forks doesn't have a football team, but this is a couple years on, and the population swelled a bit so now they do :P I needed a jock or something because it's the gender opposite of a cheerleader, so it fits :) **

**Kay's from the Rez though, I'll explain why she goes to Forks in later chapters**

**Lena xo**


	2. Chapter II

CHAPTER II

****

I thought I could hear talking. More like shouting, but it was muffled by the walls and I couldn't hear what they were saying. I heard Seth finally yelling, "STOP IT!" There was silence, then the slamming of doors.

I was too tired now.

So sleepy.

The room darkened.

I'll ask him about it tomorrow in the morning…

****

"Two years. You're absolutely sure?"

"Yupp." Colin was grinning. "On this day, November 13th, exactly 730 days ago, our Seth laid eyes on the pretty girl lying on our living room couch."

"Exactly," I said through gritted teeth. "She's only just fallen asleep, so could you keep it down?"

"Two. Whole. _Years,_" repeated Sam, "Since you imprinted."

"Yes," I admitted. "What of it?"

"This is ridiculous. You can't keep going on like this," said Sam. "This is _imprinting._ You've got to say something to her. At least tell her that you like her more than a friend."

"Much, _much_ more than a friend if what I saw last time we phased was right," muttered Bradie to Colin, but he was grinning and looking at me.

I knew I was blushing. That stupid dream. Thank God they couldn't see it through my copper skin. Then again, they didn't need to see it. They knew.

They knew Goddamned _everything_ about me.

"It's fine. Let me handle this. She'll get over Kamal, and then I'll be here for her. And then maybe if the timing's right I'll explain to her… some of the stuff that's going on around here."

Sam shook his head. "The situation is simply too dangerous. You are in that high school with what, 600 odd students? That's 600 people, plus teachers and staff, who you could injure if you phase. Who could find out about us. And then what?"

"I'm not going to phase. I can control it."

Sam sighed. "Seth, you _are_ the most controlled out of our group. And you've kept up this charade up for awhile. But what will happen if something unexpected comes along?"

"Like?"

Brady cut in. "What if you turned the corner and she and Kamal were making out, all over each other, tongues down each other's throat, his hands up her shirt…"

"STOP IT!" I roared. The mental image that had come with that had made me feel sick.

"Please. Just stop it," I whispered.

"It could happen," said Colin wisely.

Brady laughed. "Oh come on Seth. What if she _doesn't_ get over Kamal? She'll leave high school, go to college, you'll follow her of course. She and Kamal will stay together, planning out their lives. She'll get married to him one day. Even if it's not Kamal it _will_ be someone else. And you'll be the best man. Will you be able to handle that?"

It was too much.

I was shaking violently, all over my whole body.

Sam looked at me calmly.

"Get out."

It was an alpha command - he had to get me out. He wouldn't let this get into a fight in their very kitchen, but more importantly Emily was only two rooms over.

I turned and practically breaking the back door, ran out of the house as I felt my body shift and change, the strength of the anger pouring into my limbs and the blood rushing as I leaned forward, no longer running on two legs like a clumsy human but on all four as a wolf.

I loved this.

I felt a voice, probably someone on patrol. Who had gone out tonight?

―_What. Happened?_

As if Leah had to ask. I was still angry so I kept running and running. I could feel the gravitational pull that was trying to drag me back to the house, to _her_ – fighting against the pain that Sam's alpha voice had thrown on me, the pain that begun to lessen as I got further and further away from the house.

Leah read everything that was going in my mind.

―_Oh._

―_Just watch for the frigging leeches. Forget about me_ I mentally snapped, wishing for once I could have this – this perfection of being a wolf, this _power_, while keeping the little space behind my forehead to myself.

―_That's the thing, Seth. We _can't _just forget. Every time we phase, we feel your pain at having to watch her with someone._

―_The werewolf is whatever the imprint requires, be it lover, best friend or nothing at all_, I recited. ―_Look at Claire and Quil. Quil's perfectly happy playing big brother_.

―_Claire is a child. It's a completely different situation. And you just made my point there. Quil's happy being her big brother. You're completely miserable at being Kaylie's best friend._

―_Look, I've accepted it, I'm over it. I'm just waiting for you lot to catch up now._

―_You've accepted it,_ thought Leah. ―_But you sure as hell aren't over it_.

―_Shouldn't there be more guys on duty?_

―_It's the bonfire tomorrow night, most of them are off helping. Embry and Quil phased out as soon as they heard your mind._

―_But you didn't?_

―_No._

―_I tried_, she added to herself. I know my sister can be – well, obstinate (I won't use the term 'bitchy') but she's always been good with me.

―_Thanks,_ I said grudgingly. ―_I just need some time to think_.

―_I know. Just remember that everything Sam and the guys said today was right._

The anger had subsided some though since she had talked. I looked around, using my wolf senses to try and figure out where I was.

I must have run a long way while we were 'talking', because I was in a huge field. I dimly remembered seeing it somewhere. Probably from one of the guy's memories. I looked up, and my perfect wolf eyes saw a full moon – ha – and the millions of pinpoints of light in the sky. I lay down, head on front paws, and gently phased out back into my human body.

I was naked, but I didn't really care. I turned over onto my back, looking up at the sky.

For some reason what Bradie had said had made me angry, much more than Kamal and Kaylie's physical relationship had. I had always kind of assumed that one day she'd break up with Kamal, and I'd tell her then. But I wouldn't be happy on that day, she would've been hurt.

Whatever happened, I'd be there. No matter how much pain it caused me, it would always be ok if she was smiling.

My eyes closed as I thought of Kamal's lips at her throat. It was the first real, pure stab of jealousy I'd felt for over a year.

I thought suddenly of how I'd left Kaylie before the "discussion" with Sam. We'd somehow managed to plough through the sheets of science, maths and history before she'd started to yawn. She was over at my – or rather Sam and Emily's – place, sleeping over and hanging out with the pack, as much as Claire or Kim or Paul's imprint Rachel was. As much as Nessie had been over before Jake had decided to leave with the vampire clan when they went up north to Alaska. That was when we – Leah, Quil, Embry and me – had re-joined Sam's pack.

Kaylie had fallen asleep on the lounge in the foetal position, legs curled up, with her hands under her head. She'd brought over her sleeping stuff and a change of clothes for tomorrow and everything, but she seemed too knocked out for it. I'd placed a blanket over her, tucking it in, then sat watching her for ages. She was breathing in and out at a slow, steady pace and her heart was beating slowly.

Damn, I wish it would beat for me. She owned my heart, but she didn't know it.

I sighed, remembering how I'd pushed a stray lock of hair behind her ear, and gently trailed my fingers down her jawline. Then I'd kissed her on the cheek. I suppose it had been a good thing Sam had called me then – if she had woken up and caught me, I don't know how close I was toeing the borderline between best friend and, well, something more…


	3. Chapter III

CHAPTER III

**AN: This is one of the weirder chapters, I might rewrite it later on but for now I'm just going to upload it and see what people say...**

**I know the chapters are kinda short but hopefully there'll be lot of them :D**

**Also in the last chapter I spelt "Brady" wrong once, thats how I started spelling it until I realised it was wrong, so sorry for the mistake!**

**Lena xo**

****

This was so screwed up. One moment everything had been fine, and now it was all stuffed up. It wasn't fair.  
Out of the corner of my eye I saw Seth walking towards me. I quickly put on a smile.  
"Hi Seth."

***

"Hi Seth."

"What's wrong?" I asked immediately. Something was wrong. Her eyes weren't focussed on me, they were looking at my right hand. The smile on her face wasn't real like it was most of the time, and there was a small line between her brows, as if she was trying not to frown.

"If I say nothing will you believe me?"

"Nope," I said, popping the 'p'. "I know you too well."

She smiled properly now, but it was still a small smile. "I know."

She sighed, reaching back to her ponytail and threading her fingers through it.

"It's Kamal," she finally admitted. I noticed her mobile in her free hand now.

I froze. "What. Did. He. Do?" I seethed, taking each word slowly. I was so scared that I would phase in front of her.

We were in the kitchen of Sam and Emily's now. It was almost dark, and most of them were already at the bonfire setting up.

The forest was only a few metres away, I thought. I should be able to get out in time… if anything happened. Just in case I shifted around the room so I was standing closer to the door.

"Tell."

Kaylie shrugged. "It's nothing, really. Just rumours. It might not even be true…" Her phone began vibrating. "I better get that."

She turned and walked off into the next room to answer the call. She thought I couldn't hear her… I loved having the extra senses. Since I'd begun phasing not only had my body temperature rocketed, but my human senses had increased almost to the point of vampire. She thought she was whispering but the truth is she could've been right next to me and the sound would've been just as clear.

"Hi Kamal."

"_Hey Kaylie. Listen, I don't know what you've heard, but…_"

"Oh. I've heard a lot."

"_I know. I'm sorry for dodging your calls, but there's something I need to tell you…_"

"So it's true?"

I heard sobbing. I suddenly had the instinct to plough through the wall next to me and run to her, but I realised that the sound was electronic.

It was _Kamal_ who was crying.

"_I never wanted to hurt you._"

"How long?"

"_I dunno. A few months._"

"Is she the head cheerleader? The blonde one?"

"_Yeah. I'm so sorry, Lee. I wanted to tell you but it wasn't as if you were ever horrible to me. You never… never gave me a reason to do it._"

"Dump me, you mean? So you let me find out this way?"

She was so calm, so composed. It surprised me.

"_I'm sorry, I never wanted to hurt you…"_

A sigh. "Don't give me that. I can look after myself, you know. I'm just a little upset that you never told me."

There was a change in Kamal's voice. "_Yeah, don't give me that. You're at his place now, aren't you?_"

"Sam's?"

"_No. That supposed '_just best friend' _of yours, Seth._" He spat out my name. I felt myself beginning to shake. How _dare_ he insult her…

"Yeah. What of it?"

"_You slept over again?_"

"Yeah…" she wasn't sure where this was leading. A sudden cold shock hit me as I realised where this was going.

"_In the same bed as him, right?_"

"What the FUCK are you on about, Kamal!" she yelled down the phone, not seeming to remember that I was only a wall away.

"_You're always going on about how you're best friends and how he'd never be a threat to me. But I've seen the way he looks at you, Lee. It's the way _I _look at you. God, you're so _thick."

The growl came from my throat before I could stop it. I was back to the seething anger. I wanted to hit something so bad. I wasn't shaking, but only the want to hear her reaction to this made me keep listening… I could guess it anyway. Not like she'd ever want me.

"It's not like that," she finally whispered. "He doesn't want me like that."

I froze.

"_So you FINALLY admit it, Kaylie? He sure as fuck DOES want you._"

"Fuck off, Kamal. You've got your new girlfriend now."

There was silence.

"_I really am sorry, you know. And everything I said… it's the truth you know. I just didn't mean to say it like that. You know, bad timing." _He sounded ashamed. "_You're a nice person, Kaylie. After this is all over, I hope we can still be friends._"

"Huh. You don't seem to know what the word friends means. Me and Seth? We're friends, and always will be. You and me as friends? Not gonna happen." I heard the small tone of her pressing the hang up button.

I wasn't shaking anymore.

I sunk to the tiles of the kitchen floor.

Her words kept repeating in my head.

"Me and Seth? We're friends, and always will be."

It was like a doomed fate. But at the same time, I thought, it was a promise. She would always be my friend, and I would always be hers, because that was what she wanted.

I stood up. Kamal I would deal with later.

I smiled as she entered the room. "Is everything ok?" She grinned back.

"Yeah, everything's fixed."

I took her hand. "Well let's go then, we've kept the rest of the pack waiting long enough, don't you think?"


	4. Chapter IV

CHAPTER IV

**AN: This is a couple weeks or so after the last chapter**

**Oh in case you haven't noticed Kamal's nickname for her is "Lee", but for Seth that's too weird cos it's like his sister's name, so he calls her Kay instead.**

**Lena xo**

***

I grinned as I looked up at Seth. The wind was whipping around us, threatening to push us over the edge of the cliff. I looked over and felt dizzy as I saw how far the water was.

"You and the guys really jump from this far up?"

"Yupp."

"And you _survive_?"

He chuckled. "No, not always. Why do you think Jacob isn't around anymore?"

My eyeballs nearly jumped out of my head. "You mean…"

He stopped laughing. "No, Kaylie, I was only kidding. Although I 'spose I shouldn't really joke about stuff like that."

I smiled, leaning over. "If I jumped, do you think _I'd_ survive?"

Seth's eyes widened. "What? No!"

"I wouldn't survive?"

"Not if you jumped wrong and hit the rocks. Or if the tide dragged you under. Or if— "

"Ok, ok, I won't jump then. You've talked me out of it," I said teasingly, poking him in the shoulder.

"_You_ shouldn't joke about stuff like that, you know," he said softly.

"I'm not that fragile."

"Oh, you'd be surprised," he murmured.

Without a word, he suddenly turned around and began walking back. Then he turned around and sprinted at full speed to the cliff.

"Seth!"

He jumped.

******

I had to jump.

I wasn't showing off. Not really. I just wanted to see what her reaction was.

It was the right one.

She screamed my name. I heard her voice in my ears as I hit the water.

I felt the initial sting on my skin and then I felt a current begin to pull me under.

_If I let it take me now,_ I thought, _her voice would've been the last thing I ever heard._

I snapped out of it, tempted to laugh. I was many things but I wasn't suicidal. I began kicking, my legs and suddenly my head broke the surface.

"Seth, you idiot!" I heard her calling. She was standing on the beach. I couldn't help but grin as I began swimming, free-style, over to her.

"Awww come on Kay," I said teasingly as I pulled myself up. She was furious.

"What if the tide had dragged you under? What if you hit the rocks? What if--?" she stopped and slapped my arm. "Stop smiling!"

I couldn't help it, she was so adorable when she was angry.

"I'm not," I said quickly and tried to arrange my face so it looked like I was ashamed and remorseful.

After a few seconds, I broke into a grin again.

"Seth!"

"Come on," I said, and began running up the beach.

She followed me, still grumbling.

"Kaylie," I finally said softly. I'd been meaning to tell her this for awhile. "I—I have to go somewhere tomorrow."

"O. K," she said slowly. "Where are you going?"

"Up to Alaska," I said. "I'm gonna visit Jake."

"Alaska? How long will you be gone?"

I paused. "About two months."

She was quiet for a few moments. "Kaylie?"

"Oh. Ok. Say hi to Jacob for me."

"Will do," I promised. She sighed, the smile slowly tugging off her face, and one of her hands came up and pushed a lock of hair away. "Kay, are you alright?"

We were walking slowly now, shoulders bumping into each other. I knew I was being stupid but I didn't mind the physical contact.

"I'm fine," she said brightly.

There was a gentle buzzing noise and Kaylie reached into her dress pocket and pulled out her phone. She bit her lip tentatively.

"It's Kamal," she said, almost to herself.

"Are you going to answer it?" I said quietly.

She thought about it, then laughed. "Nah. You answer it." She threw the phone at me and I caught it, just.

"What?"

"Please answer it? I want to hear his reaction."

I gave her a long look. I didn't want to end up yelling at Kamal over the phone… or worse, phasing.

"Only for you," I muttered as I hit the green button.

"Hello."

"Oh," said Kamal sounding confused. "Erm, Seth? Is that you?"

I was suddenly distracted by Kaylie leaning in very close to me, until her head was resting against mine. She was trying to listen to the phone conversation but at the same time she was pulling out my concentration.

I focussed back on the phone. "No. Kamal? Is that you?"

"What's going on? Where's Kaylie?"

"This is Kaylie," I said soberly. Meanwhile, Kaylie pressed a hand to her mouth to try and stop laughing.

"Very funny, Seth. Let me talk to her, please, it's really important."

"What are you on about Kamal? This _is_ me." Kaylie had begun slapping me on the arm. "Ok, I changed my mind, give me the phone now," she whispered, reaching for it. I held it up and since I was much taller than her, she strained up to reach it, then she stopped and gave me puppy eyes. "Seeeeeeettthhh…"

I winked at her, and put the phone back to my ear again. "I'll call you back in ten, Kamal, Seth's being a jerk again," I said into the phone. Kaylie scowled. "Yes, he is!" she yelled just before I hung up the phone.

"Catch me if you can," I said before I turned and begun sprinting off down the beach.

"SETH!" she called, staying exactly where she was but folding her arms. I sighed and ran back to her.

"I'm too nice," I grumbled as I handed her phone back.

"Nah, it's just that you can't resist me," she said as she winked and leaned forward and kissed me on the cheek.

I froze. What was she doing? But before I could ask, she'd skipped off into the shallow water. I walked along behind her, slowly, almost in a daze.

"Seth!"

"Sorry?" I finally asked.

"I said, what do you think I should do?"

There was a pause. "About?"

"Seth! Haven't you been listening to anything I was just saying?"

"Erm…" I smiled guiltily.

"I said, you don't think I should go back with Kamal, do you?"

For the second time that day, all my senses and thinking just stopped.

"Wait, he wants to get back with you?" I said slowly.

"I'm not sure. I think he's hinting it. If he outright asked, what do you think I should do?"

I wanted to scream at her, _Say no! He'll only hurt you again. Choose someone who's always been there for you, and who always will be…_ but that was a little intense, I suppose.

I watched her, standing in the waves, with the dark clouds behind her. She was wearing a yellow summer dress which contrasted perfectly against her copper skin.

So I told her the truth.

"Do whatever makes you happy."

To my surprise she laughed, then looked sad. "It's not that simple though, is it?"

In that single moment she looked so miserable. Her lips were down in a pout and her eyes were focussed on the water that lapped at her ankles. I wished I could pick her up and… I don't know. Do anything so that she'd forget whatever was making her miserable.

"Yeah," I agreed. "It's never that simple."


	5. Chapter V

CHAPTER V

**AN: This whole story's been a little unusual for me – normally I plan out everything to point perfect, but this story I just threw in three characters, a theme and began writing. However, it's been a lot of fun :)**

***

It had been cold for two months now.

***

I was driving at break-neck speed. Literally. A small part of my mind wondered about my healing. Being a werewolf my healing ability was at the rate of super speed, but I wondered idly what the limit was.

I passed the shabby green sign that proudly announced that I had arrived in Forks. I was that much closer.  
Two months since I'd seen her.

I spent most of that two months wondering why I'd ever agreed to go up north. I missed Jake like mad – he was my best friend out of the pack, and the best leader. Nessie had matured into a teenager and was driving Jacob crazy. Family life there was pretty hectic anyway. 'Blondie' as Jacob called her, and her mate Emmett were off in Africa somewhere, but the rest of the family was trying to prevent Edward from ripping Jacob to shreds for the thoughts Jacob had begun to have about Renesmee, if you catch my drift. He'd been expecting it but not that quickly – Nessie had matured in half the time they'd expected her to.

So Jacob had called me up for a 'holiday' and some 'mental support'. Sam had pushed me to go because he was convinced I needed a break from the whole Kaylie situation.

In the end, though, it was Emily who had convinced me to go.

"I don't need time from her," I'd insisted when she'd asked to speak to me privately. "She's my imprint, you think it will change anything? About how I feel about her, or any of that?"

Emily's soft voice had cut in. "Maybe she needs time from you."

I stopped. I had no idea what she was on about. "What do you mean?"

"Well, maybe she needs to realise how you're always there. You don't know what you've got 'till it's gone," she quoted. "If you're away for a bit, maybe she'll realise how much she misses you."

All those maybes. But the more I thought about it the more it made sense. It was the only reason I'd stayed in Alaska for so long – fighting the fact that maybe, just maybe, she would've missed me when I came back.

I realised then that I was practically grounding the acceleration pedal into the ground, so I eased up a bit and drove into her driveway. I knew it was a bit weird, turning up at her place before I even went home, but at this point I wasn't too sure I cared.

It would've been faster if I'd just been able to phase, I thought as I walked around the side of the house to the backdoor. But Jacob had wanted me to actually bring stuff, like luggage and all of that, and suitcases weren't exactly easy to tie to my leg like tracksuit pants were.

"Hi Liza," I said to the brunette woman hanging up clothes on a washing line.

"Hello Seth," she replied without turning around. "She's in her room."

"Thanks."

Liza's family had been close to mine for as long as I can remember – I was born seven months before Kaylie, so we'd basically grown up together. That meant I could walk around their house blindfolded, I knew it so well. As I climbed the stairs and turned left to Kaylie's room, I heard the TV running, and the sound of a video game running.

I frowned slightly. Kaylie hadn't played video games of any sort since she was twelve.

I pushed open the door to see her laying on her stomach, the controller of a Play Station 2 in her hands, and on the TV screen in front of her was some kind of war game, involving a chic dressed in pink running around bashing guys with two huge pink-crystal-staff things.

"Hey," she said, still looking at the screen. "Give me like, two minutes, I'm almost done…"

Her fingers moved frantically over the controller. I sat down on the edge of her bed and looked around her room.

It had started off pink, but when she was ten Kaylie had managed to persuade her parents to re-paint her room sky blue, and that's how it was now. The whole theme of her room was sky – the curtains were lace and the bedsheets and covers were all white. The floor was lined with white carpet and even the pillow at the head of her bed was cloud-shaped.

My favourite part was the glow-in-the-dark star stickers on her ceiling. You couldn't see them when it was daytime but once, when I was eleven (and it was considered still "appropriate" for me to sleep unsupervised in the same room as her), I'd slept on a mattress on the floor and fell asleep watching those stars.

"DAMNIT!" she yelled the words _Lu Bu's Forces Defeated _scrolled across the screen. Before she could start playing again I ripped the controller out of her hands and pulled her into a hug. I felt her relax in my arms, and I heard a little voice in my head saying, _I don't think the game is the reason she's so tense._

"Miss me much?" I asked her teasingly as her head rested on my neck.

"Oh, you have no idea," I heard her whisper.

But the next words that came out of her mouth shocked me.

"Kamal and me are going out again."

"Kamal and I," I corrected automatically, then blanched. "Wait, what? I thought he cheated on you."

Kaylie pulled back and frowned. "Is that what everyone's saying?"

I blushed, suddenly remembering that I wasn't supposed to hear that phone conversation. "Well, yeah. With that head cheerleader girl…"

Kaylie was shaking her head now. "No. He _liked_ that girl and she _liked _him back, but nothing ever happened. When Katherine called me that night, it was because she'd overheard a conversation or something, where he told her that he was going to dump me so they could go out honestly, not behind everyone's backs."

"Oh," I said, suddenly feeling stupid. "You mean he was being honest with you?"

"Yeah," she said, pulling completely out of my arms before going back down to the play station console and switching it off. "It's only a high school relationship. I was only really angry at first, but then some of the stuff he said later made it worse." She seemed to shudder and hold herself for a minute, before she turned back to me.

"About a week after you left we ran into each other at the shops. That's why he'd been trying to call me," she added lightly, as if answering her phone had been my idea. "And we talked things through. He reckoned he'd made a mistake and wanted another chance, so I gave it to him."

"Just like that?" I said through slightly gritted teeth, though she didn't seem to notice. "But I mean what if he just falls in love with the next girl who comes along?"

"Well," she said, "He seems to have been behaving well enough since you've been gone."

I watched as she slipped another disc into the console. "What are you playing now?"

"It's a game called Ratchet and Clank 2. I haven't played it since forever," she said as she picked up a red cup and straw before jumping back onto the bed. "Move over, Clearwater, this bed's small enough without taking your weight as well."

My mouth dropped open in mock surprise. "Are you calling me fat?" She didn't reply as she began to sip some of the dark liquid out of the straw.

Something in my head finally clicked as it put two and two together. I snatched the drink off of her, taking a sip myself.

My eyes nearly jumped out of their sockets. "Coke? Are you serious?"

She was standing, watching me with narrowed eyes and folded arms, controller laying on the bed forgotten.

"But you _never _drink coke." This was now real, honest shock. "What about your campaign last year?"

"Campaign?" she repeated, confused.

"Yes. Your attempt to get the pack to stop drinking coke and pepsi and all that." I put on a ridiculously high-pitched voice. "Embry! Don't drink that! Did you know that coke rots your teeth and causes seven kinds of cancer?"

She scowled and whacked me on the shoulder. "I never said that!"

There was silence.

"Ok, so they haven't _proved_ that coke causes cancer, but give them time."

"Total health-food freak, as per usual," I muttered as I began drinking more of the coke. Kaylie scowled again. "Get your own!" She tried to snatch the drink back off of me, but I whipped my arm back. "It's for your own god," I said as I tipped my head back and drained the cup. "I'm saving you from rotting teeth and seven kinds of cancer."

I suddenly had the strangest mental image – Kaylie, dying slowly as the cancer cells invaded her body, and me not being able to stop it. I shuddered, but was brought back to reality as I received a heavy blow across the face.

"Owwwwwww," I moaned, rubbing my cheek. We both knew I wasn't really in any pain, and that her hand was probably hurting more than my face, but we played along anyway.

I opened my hand and dropped the coke cup to the floor.

Kaylie slapped me on the arm again. Have I mentioned that she can be very violent?

"Don't leave that down there, pick it up!"

And that she's a neat freak?

I dropped onto the bed on my stomach, and leaned over the edge to find the cup, which had rolled under the bed.

From my upside-down viewpoint I saw what was under the bed, and my mouth dropped open.

There were at least a dozen chocolate blocks piled up neatly in columns of three. There was also a heap of chocolate, chip and lolly packets. I suddenly couldn't see why she was so fussed about one coke cup.

She kicked my head. "Hurry up!"

I pulled myself back up. "You know, that could've really hurt me."

She rolled her eyes.

"What's with the junk food stockpile?" I asked casually as I stood up. Her face was blank for a minute, and then she dropped down to her knees. "Shoot," she muttered as she peered under the bed. "He wasn't supposed to see that."

"See what?" I asked, abruptly suspicious.

"Erm…nothing," she said hastily, pulling herself up. "Don't you have somewhere else to be?"

I raised an eyebrow. "That depends. Are you kicking me out?"

"No," she said sweetly. "I prefer the term 'forced removal'.

I laughed. "Come on Kay, like you could—WHOA."

She was holding a baseball bat in her hands, and had a very evil look on her face that scared me more than any bloodsucker could.

"You wouldn't use that," I said with certainty. "Would you?"

"Do you really want to find out?"

"Ok, you win," I said, backing out of her room with my hands in the air. She followed me down the stairs and out the house, thankfully leaving the cursed weapon in her bedroom.

"Wait," I said, "When did you get a baseball bat?"

"While you were gone," she said innocently.

"To use on my arrival?" I asked as I climbed into the truck.

"Maybe," she said, leaving in the open front window next to the driver's side. "Are you coming back tomorrow?"

"That depends on whether the baseball bat's here or not," I muttered, suddenly hyper-aware of how close her face was to mine. Damnit, I could feel her warm breath washing over me as she let out a small sigh.

She leaned in slowly, her lips next to my ear. "It's good to have you back, Clearwater," she whispered, and she kissed gently on the mouth before stepping back.

I froze.

Like I was on some kind of automatic mode, I pulled the car gears back into reverse and pushed my foot onto the pedal.

I didn't even bother turning around to look – I could've run over a cat or even an old pensioner for all I cared.

She had kissed me, I thought stunned as I drove at an incredibly slow pace home. She kissed me.

I took a deep breath of air, realizing I hadn't been breathing.

She kissed me.

Those were the only three words my mind knew at the moment.

In our relationship or friendship or imprint-ship or whatever you wanted to call it, we hugged, linked arms, held hands, and sometimes she kissed me on the cheek, but _this_ - this was different.

It took me awhile to realize that I had stopped the car in front of the house, but it was still running and I was just sitting in it. I finally killed the engine, leaving the keys in the ignition. I walked straight into the house, not worrying about luggage or anything like that.

In the dining room I found Leah sitting at the table, watching me shrewdly, and I could hear Mum cooking in the kitchen.

"I was watching you through that window," began Leah, "and you just sat there in the car for about fifteen minutes like this."

She opened her eyes, staring straight ahead, and dropped her jaw a little.

"I didn't look like that," I muttered doubtfully.

"Yeah, right," she said sarcastically. "How was Alaska?"

"Good," I said absent-mindedly. Alaska was the last thing on my mind at the moment.

"So," Leah said, "Are you going to tell me what happened?"

"No," I said vaguely as I started walking upstairs to my room.

"Fine!" she yelled up to me. "But I'll find out tonight! You've got patrol with me, Colin and Brady, don't forget!"

I lay down on my bed, staring blankly at the ceiling.

Unlike Kaylie's room, where every detail screamed a little something about her personality, the only thing you could tell about me via my room was that I hardly ever slept there. It was like a motel room – the room was painted a dark cedar brown and there was simple furniture. The bed sheets were white and before I had lain on them, barely rumpled. The only objects that showed any sense of occupation in the room were three pictures frames on the bedside cabinet.

The first was a picture of my family. Leah was twelve, judging by the number of candles on her birthday cake. That made the little boy with the grin plastered over his face six. My parents were standing behind us, holding hands and smiling at the camera.

The second frame held a favourite picture of mine – Emily had taken it three years ago. It was all of the combined pack at First Beach, most of us holding beer cans and trying to shove food down our throats while smiling at the camera. I couldn't help but laugh at Jake's face next to me – completely childish: eyes crossed, tongue poked out – probably trying to make baby Nessie laugh, somewhere in the foreground.

The third picture made me think. It was me and Kaylie standing out the front of her house, taken only a couple months ago. My arm was around her shoulders and her arm was around my waist.

"Damnit," I muttered. "I'm getting way too sentimental."

Brady was always going on about me being all 'touchy-feely'.

"See," he'd kindly explained to me one day, "with most guys it's the imprint that makes them go all 'emotional' and get all 'sensitive'. But you my friend," at this point he had slapped me on the back, "you were born that way."

I had scowled. "You make that sound like it's a bad thing."

He'd just given me a 'look' and hadn't said anything.

I closed my eyes, remembering Kaylie's warm lips on my mouth.

Shit.

I snapped out of it. She was going back out with Kamal. So what did that kiss mean? Maybe she was just saying she missed me and got all impulsive or sentimental.  
Maybe it was the overload of sugar into her blood-system after her junk-food binge.

What was with that anyway? She normally never ate any of that stuff. And the video games, too. She'd never really liked them. And she hadn't wanted me to see all her chocolate and all that. What was up with that anyway?

Somehow in the few hours I had left before patrol, I managed to fall asleep. But 'till the last moment when I shut my eyes, including the whole werewolf phase thing, I don't think I'd ever been this confused in my life.


	6. Chapter VI

CHAPTER VI

**AN: :O wowww, thankyou to all the people who reviewed and/or added this story to their faves or alerts. Unlike most authors, I don't actually mind if you don't leave reviews. I do prefer them, but I figure if you fave it, you like it :) **

**I had a bit of writer's block, but now Seth&Kaylie are back on track. Things are starting to change...**

**Special shout out to Lily CullenBlack, just for leaving TWO reviews ;D, and to thevampirerubberduck and deliqueena, who added me to their faves based on _Reaching Out_.**

**Lots of love & Merry Christmas**

**Lena xo**

*******

It was almost surreal. I never thought I'd see those two talking.

And now I was just confused…

*******

"Seth. Can I… Can I talk to you for a minute?"

Kamal wanted to talk to me?

"Yeah, sure," I said standing up. I was tired as hell, with patrol keeping me up half the night, but Mum had faithfully kicked me out of bed to get to school.

"I'll see you later," I told Colin. He muttered "Don't lose control," too low for human ears to pick up as I left.

"Shoot," I said to Kamal. We were sitting on benches outside of the cafeteria. It was drizzling so there wasn't anyone else out here.

Kamal seemed to be scrutinising me before he spoke.

"You haven't talked to Kaylie since this morning, have you?"

"Nope. I gave her a lift to school but we're in different morning classes." I frowned. "Why? Has something happened to her?"

Kamal was chewing on his bottom lip now. "Yeah…something's kinda happened. I dumped her."

Without even thinking about it, my hands curled into fists and I could feel the shaking. He'd hurt her, again. "What?"

Kamal looked me dead in the eyes.

"You love her, don't you?"

My hands relaxed slightly. "No," I lied.

"You're lying," he automatically said. "Look, I don't know how much she tells you about this sort of stuff, but we've been fighting a lot lately. About you."

"What?" I was shocked. Kay had never mentioned that. "Wait, what have you guys been saying?"

Kamal kneaded his forehead. "Basically, I've been telling her you're in love with her, and she denies it. To tell the truth, I'm… I'm kind of jealous of you."

I started laughing – this situation was just too ironic. This whole conversation was weird enough, but now… "_You're_ jealous of _me_?"

"Yeah," he was speaking quietly now. It was hard to hear him over the rain hitting the roof. "When she's upset, she goes to you and you always cheer her up again."

"Yeah," I cut in. "Friends do that."

"It's not just that. It's like… I dunno. You connect with her on a way that I can't. I'm going to be honest," he said, "I can't see myself marrying Lee. She's sweet and smart and funny and loyal, but you get those sorts of traits in friends."

"Yeah. I 'spose," I said slowly. I honestly had no idea what was going on here.

"Look, it's nearly the end of the year. I'm moving up to Port Angeles during the summer and I'll probably end up staying there for college. Do you get what I'm saying?"

I shook my head.

"She's all yours."

My mouth dropped open. "Kamal you can't… you can't do this. You can't break her heart and then force her to go with… with someone else."

He just grinned. "Yeah, I can. Although if it helps, she didn't exactly sound heartbroken when I told her this morning. She sounded relieved." He held out his hand, and I shook it, before he walked off.

I sat on that bench, my head in my hands. Maybe I was dreaming.

I felt her coming before she spoke. "Seth?" asked Kay. She sound confused. "Were you just talking to Kamal?"

"Yeah," I said slowly. She sat down next to me, and laid her head on my shoulder. "What did he say?"

"I dunno," I shrugged. "Just told me what happened and that he's moving and stuff. Are you ok?" I added.

"About Kamal? Yeah. Actually I'm kind of glad. I couldn't really see that relationship going anywhere. He's a sweet guy but I wouldn't want to spend the rest of my life with him."

I chuckled. "I thought it was just a high school relationship."

"Oh, it was," said Kaylie. "It's just that, I dunno, isn't marriage like what all this relationship stuff is supposed to lead to?"

"I guess," I said slowly. I stood up. "I don't know, I've never really thought about it in that way. Are you coming?"

"Yeah," she grinned and took my hand and we walked back to our table in the cafeteria.

Colin raised an eyebrow at me and Brady put the thumbs up at me.

After school I met Kaylie in the car park as usual – I was still giving her a lift home. I saw Kamal on the other side of the car park and I'm not sure but I think he mouthed "good luck".

XxX

Driving home we were both quiet, which was kind of unusual because Kaylie is a bit of a chatterbox. Suddenly she turned to me and said, "Do you remember when we met?"

"No," I said automatically. "You were just _there_ when I grew up. I can't pinpoint a date."

"Oh I know," she said, "But when you turned thirteen, you know, when you're Dad passed away…" she paused and a look of sadness passed over her face. "But you know how things got all weird and you didn't come over anymore?"

That was when Leah and I had started phasing. Sam kept us away from anyone because he said the slightest thing could make us angry, and we could phase and hurt someone.

"Yeah, I remember."

"Well, I'm talking about when we met after that was all over."

It had been after the Volturi's drop in on Renesmee. Sam had warned all the family of the werewolves that this fight could get nasty, so my mother had been panicking and stressing about me and Leah. As soon as the Volturi left, Leah and I ran off straight back home so she'd know we were ok.

I'd walked into the dining room and seen Mum sitting there, along with Liza. Then I'd heard a sound from the next room and she had walked in.

She hadn't changed that much, really. But it had been two years since I'd laid eyes on her - I could try to describe it, but there's no point. Jake's got a saying – Imprinting, like pain and hunger, is impossible to describe with words, and he's right. All I know is that from that moment on, I had to be with her every second of the day because if I wasn't, something bad could happen. If something bad ever happened to her, the world would come crashing down around me.

That was when I'd found out that she was going to Forks High – her mother had sent her there because it had more 'oppurtunities' then the Rez school. I spoke to Sam and it took awhile, but he finally hedged and let me go to Forks as well to be there with her – on the condition that Colin and Brady came with me as back up.

"Yeah," I said out loud to her now. "Of course I remember. Why?" I added suspiciously.

"Nothing," she said hastily. "It's just that… well, you changed a lot the two years when I didn't see you." I shrugged, then winked. "Puberty."

"Or steroids," she said pointedly. "That's you and all the boys in the pack, by the way."

I laughed as I pulled onto the curb in front of Emily's house. "Come on Kaylie, the pack in question are waiting."

As soon as we walked through the door, a huge russet figure shot through and smashed into Kaylie, pulling her up into a bear hug.

"About time you showed up! We were starting to think Seth had eaten you!" roared Embry, and Kay screamed as he messed up her hair. Next was Emily who had just walked out of the kitchen, a spatula in one hand, a wooden spoon in the other. Kaylie managed to hug her and Emily shook her head.

"My Kaylie, you've grown. It's been, what, two months and one day since I've seen you?"

I couldn't be sure of the light, but I think Kay blushed.

"You didn't come over when I wasn't here?" I asked, surprised.

"No, I had finals and stuff to prepare for," she huffed. "And no way to get here."

Emily laughed as she walked back into the kitchen, and Kaylie had a little space to breathe before a little figure dressed in a pink ballerina dress appeared in the lounge room doorway. She squealed once, disappeared out of view, and when she came back she was pulling a huge man with blue fairy wings strapped to his back. "Hi Seth, Kaylie," said Quil as he watched five-year-old Claire dance around Kaylie. "How's Jake?"

I grinned. "Suffering." Quil laughed and Claire approached me with big, round brown eyes and a gold fairy ring in one hand. "Uncle Seth," she said sombrely, "I am the Fairy Ballerina Princess Claire and you require my permission to enter this domain." I shot a look at Quil who winked – he'd taught her to recite that sentence to anyone who entered the house. I got down on one knee so that I was at Claire's level and said, "Well, I, Seth Clearwater your humble servant, request your permission to enter your kingdom, my royal highness." Kaylie was trying not to laugh as Claire turned to Quil with a confused look. Quil beckoned her and whispered something in her ear. She giggled and then turned to me. "You can enter Uncle Seth if you wear Quil's fairy wings!"

I looked at Quil who was now trying not to laugh, and Kaylie who had stopped pretending and was just giggling. I reached into my pocket and found liquid gold.

"Ok Claire how about I give you this chocolate bar and you let me into your domain?"

"Deal!" she said as she practically ripped the chocolate bar out of my hand. "I love you Uncle Seth!" Claire turned around and clasped Quil's pinky finger in one small hand, before dragging him to the next room to present "Her Royal Highness Fairy Ballerina Princess Claire and her Loyal Servant Quil" to the rest of the household.

There was more pandemonium as Jared, Kim, Rachel, Paul and family came through the front door next. Emily hadn't specifically invited any of us over, but she was a capable chef and had somehow managed to dish up enough dinner to satisfy even the werewolves' appetites. Home-made pizzas and fruit salad for after… there was a reason people randomly showed up on Emily's doorstep, and it wasn't just the smile and the kind words that were always there – if Emily ever decided to charge us for her food, with the amount we ate she'd probably be a millionaire before the end of the year.

"Knock knock!" yelled Leah as she walked into the house. "Hi Kaylie!" she added as the two girls hugged. Leah liked Kaylie, although Kay was a better friend of mine because we were the same age rather than the six year age gap between these two girls. Leah had never said it out loud but I'd read the thoughts in her head – Kamal situation aside, Leah approved that I had imprinted on her.

Kamal. My stomach suddenly twisted into knots. If he had stepped aside… that didn't mean anything, I decided. Kamal didn't decide who Kaylie liked – that decision rested with the girl in front of me wearing jeans, a pink top and a smile.

**AN: Sorry this has taken awhile! I posted up a chapter but it didn't seem right, it didn't fit their characters so I changed it... anyway hope you enjoyed re-meeting the pack. In case you hadn't realised, Claire's a favourite of mine :)**

**Lena xo**


	7. Chapter VII

CHAPTER VII

*******

I was tired, and I felt dizzy and sick as I fell back onto the warm bed. I was dressed but I didn't want to leave. I'd been up all night, thinking… thinking too much obviously.

My mum had started yelling at me. Better get out before she comes here and kicks me out. I shouldered my beach bag and grabbed the two milkshakes my mum handed me before sprinting out the front door.

******

My truck pulled into her driveway. I heard Liza roar, "HURRY UP KAYLIE, HE'S ALREADY HERE!"

She dashed out then. Her hair was all wet and in curls – she had a beach bag slung over one shoulder, and two milkshakes in her hands. I leaned over in the cab and opened the passenger door.

"Morning, Clearwater," she said brightly, shoving the larger of the milkshakes towards me. I took it and drained it in one go before restarting the truck and driving down the main road that would lead us to the Pack's Beach.

The 'Pack's Beach' was a nickname for Third Beach of the La Push Rez. First Beach was where all the tourists and parties from Forks were held; Second Beach was where all the La Push residents went; and Third Beach was where the werewolf pack hung out. Most residents tended to steer clear of that area, not that there was much there anyway – there was a small section of beach bordered by a huge expansion of forest, and the cliffs where we went cliff-diving.

Since it was one of the very, very, very few sunny days of the year, Emily had rounded up all the pack to come down to the Beach. We'd start off after lunch – she'd bring food, and at nightfall we'd have the bonfire.

It was more or less a party.

And, of course, Emily had insisted that I bring Kaylie.

And Kaylie, when she'd heard, insisted that she'd come.

We pulled up into the car park of First Beach and walked down onto the sand. I was wearing shorts and a shirt out of respect to Kay, but I didn't have any shoes on – Kay was wearing another one of her summer dresses, lime green this time.

As always, she looked beautiful in it.

We were walking along, hands linked, and she was talking about all the gossip I had missed at school. I'm not sure why I asked it, but I did.

"Kay, why did you kiss me last week?"

To my surprise, she blushed. I think she was blushing, it was hard to tell through her skin, but I could hear her heart rate quicken.

"Actually, Seth," she said quietly, "I don't know."

I was expecting many answers, but that wasn't it.

"Oh." I wasn't sure what else to say.

At the start of the cove of Third Beach we turned into the forest to take a short cut. We were both quiet, listening to the sounds of the forest, when I realised her heart rate was still fast and her breathing had quickened. "Kay? Are you alright?"

"Hmm?" she was flushed. "Yeah, I'm fine, I'm fine, I'm fine…" her words faded off and she stopped and seemed to sway on the spot.

"Shit, Kaylie," I muttered, moving forward and holding her in my arms.

"Hmmm…" she said slowly. I leaned into her neck and took a deep breath. I could smell her scent, as pure as it always was, mingling with something else.

"Coconuts," I murmured.

"What was that?" she asked, dazed.

"Your hair smells like coconuts."

"Yeah," she said, smiling, her eyes not really focussed on me. "It's the shampoo."

I took another breath of her. There was no trace of alcohol, but for all I knew she could be intoxicated. "Kaylie, you haven't been drinking lately have you?"

"No," she snapped, then she yawned, stretching her arms out. "But I am tired. I didn't sleep at all last night. That's why I was late."

"Come on," I muttered, unwrapping my arms from around her and taking her hand again. "We've got to get to the pack."

She took a shaky step forward, then her legs collapsed from beneath her. I quickly ducked forward and caught her before she hit the ground. She groaned, rubbing her eyes with the back of her hands. Her eyelids were drooping as I lifted her up into my arms, re-adjusting her so that I was holding her bridal-style. She leaned her head on my shoulder before her eyes closed completely.

Within the next minute, she was snoring softly.

After about five minutes of walking, the trees began to thin out and soon I could see the pack, plus family members plus imprints, all spread out on the cove. There were about five barbeques running, four of them feeding the werewolves, and there was a game of cricket going on that involved a hell of a lot of cheating and whacking of each other with the cricket bat.

"SETH!" roared Brady. He was waving at me but seemed to have forgotten that the bat was still in his hand. Colin next to him ducked as the bat flew past his head. They both moved forward. "About time you got here!"

"Shhhh," I frowned at Brady. He saw Kaylie in my arms and clicked his tongue. "Guys and their imprints, hey Colin?" Colin just laughed, then he looked me dead in the eye.

"You do realise that out of everyone here, she's the only one who doesn't know?"

I didn't reply.

I continued carrying Kaylie as I walked over to Emily who was operating one of the barbeques. I shifted Kaylie so that I was holding her with one hand, like a child, and Emily gave me a kiss on the cheek. "Hi, Seth," she said, smiling at me holding Kaylie who was still knocked out in my arms. "What happened here?"

"She didn't sleep all of last night and decided there was no time like the present," I muttered as I re-shifted Kay in my arms again. The movement woke her up and her eyes flickered open.

"Shoot. Sorry Seth," she said embarrassed as she slid out of my arms. There were kids, teenagers and adults running around at the moment and I heard someone give a wolf-whistle (probably Brady). "Did you carry me here all the way?"

"Yeah, but don't worry, you're light," I said as Emily handed me three hot dogs and buns. Kay hugged Emily and they were chatting. "Oh, Seth," Emily added, "Sam wants to round up all the boys in about an hour. They're going to go cliff-diving."

"Cliff-diving?" repeated Kaylie, her eyes suddenly widening. "But isn't that really dangerous?"

Emily shook her head. "Kaylie, sweetheart, the boys face way more dangerous things than cliffs."

"Like?" asked Kaylie. "I really don't see what's more scary than cliffs a hundred metres in the air."

"They're not a hundred metres in the air," I managed to say through gritted teeth. Had it been anyone but Emily throwing hints at Kaylie like that, I would've punched them out, but seeing as it _was _Emily, all I could do her was throw her pleading looks.

"Me, for one," Emily said as she turned back to the barbeque to serve up some boys who'd come up for food. "Ask Sam. I'm scarier than any of those cliffs."

Kaylie laughed at this, but I grabbed her hand and began to pull her away. "Yeah, Emily could poison his food," I said, but Emily just winked at me.

"What are you doing?" laughed Kaylie as I kept pulling her away.

"Don't eat anything that woman cooks," I said as I let go of her wrist. Kay laughed again and tugged at my shirt. "Come on Seth, can we go swimming?"

I stared at her. "Kaylie, you nearly collapsed in that forest, and now you want to go swimming in the middle of the freezing cold ocean? You're staying on the beach."

"Seth…" Kaylie looked at me pleadingly.

"No. Come on Kay, what if you faint out in the deep water? Where the sharks are?"

"You'll beat them off," she said brightly. "I'm going swimming whether you like it or not, I'm just asking if you want to come with me."

I narrowed my eyes at her. "Kaylie, you're not going swimming today."

She grinned, turned around and sprinted off towards the beach, bag swinging off her arm. "Catch me if you can!" she yelled over her shoulder.

I ran after her, easily catching up to her and grabbing her from around the waist. The bag slipped off her arm and onto the sand, but I locked my arms around hers. She began to wriggle, but I just laughed.

"Come on Kay, you're never going to beat me."

Kay stopped struggling, and I suddenly realised how close she was to me. She seemed to be watching me, looking right into my eyes.

We both froze for about a second, watching each other.

Then in the same split second, she made a break for it and I let go.

"AAH!" she screamed as the resistance she was expecting disappeared. She plummeted forward and slipped. Quick as a flash, I stepped forward and caught her, again tightening my arms around her in the vice-like grip. "Told ya, you can't beat me Kaylie."

"Yes. I. Can." With each word she punched me or tried to duck and get out. Each time I just tightened my grip on her. "Kay, this is pointless, you're just wasting energy," I said teasingly.

Her bottom lip stuck out in a pout and she stopped moving.

"Oh but Seth, can I go swimming?" she sounded like a child - no. She sounded like Claire when she was trying to persuade Quil to wear fairy wings.

"I'm not worried about sharks or the cold water 'cos I know you'll be there. My personal heater and shark basher," she said proudly.

"Shark basher?" I repeated, eyebrow raised. "You do realise that there are no man-eating sharks in these seas, don't you?"

"Exactly," she said brightly. "I'm fine Seth, come on."

Slowly, unwillingly, I unlocked my arms. She squealed and jumped forward, locking her hands around my neck, saying "Thankyouthankyouthankyou," before she stepped back and slipped out of her dress.

Almost instinctively I turned my head and looked out at the ocean. I couldn't look at her, I just couldn't look at what didn't belong to me. There were actually quite a few people out there, which meant the water must be relatively warm. There weren't really any waves, except up near the cliff where the water was smashing against the rock face. I could see a few people up there already, probably Sam and a few others.

"Ok Seth, are you aready?" I pulled off my shirt over my head, still trying not to look at her, but I knew it was pointless. "Yupp, ready," I said as I turned around to face her.

She looked like a goddess, of course. She was wearing a bikini, sky blue in colour. I could see all her curves, and it wasn't just the imprint thing this time. She literally _was _beautiful.

Shit, I thought. I can't do this. I can't be _around_ her while she's like this. Even if she was mine, I wouldn't deserve her.

I fantasised for a single moment what it would be like if she _was_ mine, if she _did_ belong to me, and what I would do to her if she was.

Hmm. Maybe it was a good idea she wasn't mine.

"Come on," she grabbed my hand and led me down to the surf, squealing as the cold water lapped at her feet. I picked her up in my arms again and walked out to the deeper water, up to my waist, where she screamed as I dropped her and she slipped under.

My brain was detached. I was almost scared to look at her now, or if I did I looked straight into her eyes. Poor Jacob, I thought for a moment, imagine feeling all this and having her father looking right through your head at the same time.

I suddenly had a mental image of what would happen to _me_ if Kay's Dad could see my thoughts right now. I won't describe that mental image, but basically he was running over me with an army tank.

"SETH!" she finally yelled, splashing water on me. "Do you normally just daze off and not focus?"

"Wait, what?"

"See what I mean?" she grumbled. "You keep fading out on me. Your eyes go all glassy like you're thinking about something else."

"Sorry," I said. "I was thinking about Jake."

"Oh," she said slowly. "Do you wish he was here?"

"Yeah, course," I said. "I've got Brady and Colin, but it's not the same, Jake's my oldest friend."

Kaylie was quiet and something seemed to be on her mind.

"Seth, are you gay?"

My jaw dropped and I stared at her for a few seconds, before I started laughing. I couldn't help it, it was just completely ironic after all the stuff Brady had said about me being too emotional, not to mention how crazy the sight of Kaylie now was making me.

"What," I managed to gasp out between laughs, "ever gave you that idea?"

She slapped me. "Shuttup Clearwater, it's not funny! It was a serious question!"

It took a lot more slaps and eventually a dunk under the freezing cold salt water before I was able to sober up enough to talk properly. Even then I was still grinning.

"It's not funny," repeated Kaylie. Her lip was pouting out again, which meant she was upset.

"Ok, but seriously, whatever gave you that idea? It's not because I'm in touch with my sensitive side, is it?"

"No," said Kaylie, turning around in a huff. "It's because you never have a girlfriend."

The grin was wiped off my face. "Oh," was all I could say.

"Well?" said Kaylie.

"What? What were you expecting to hear?" I asked teasingly, but in truth her comment about having a girlfriend chilled me more than the water.

"Seth, I've known you since we were in diapers, and I've been hanging out with you for two years and you've never had a girlfriend and never even _seemed_ interested in girls. What other conclusion was I supposed to come to? Or is there another reason?"

"Yeah, there is," I admitted, suddenly wishing I had just said I was gay.

"Why won't you tell me?"

"There's nothing to tell," I said shortly. I couldn't lie to her, but I could edit the truth. "I fell in love with a girl a long time ago. She broke my heart," _even though she didn't know it_, I added mentally, "and I've never really been able to move on. Is that what you wanted to hear?"

"Oh," she said quietly. We were both silent for a bit. Then I splashed her.

"Did you really think I was gay?"

"_No_," Kaylie insisted. "I just couldn't think of anything else. I didn't _really_ think you were gay."

I started laughing again.

At that moment, just like when we were little kids, Kaylie swum behind me and jumped on my back. She was trying to wrestle with me, even though she knew that she couldn't beat me, but all I could think was that her skin was really smooth and cold and a hell of a lot of it was pressed up on my back at the moment. I swear, my vision started going fuzzy when she wrapped her legs around my waist.

"Come on, Clearwater, I could beat you in a wrestling match." I grabbed her legs and pulled her in close to me, then I started walking out deeper.

"What are you doing Seth?"

"I," I said proudly, "am taller than you. Therefore all I have to do is walk out until I find a spot where I can stand but you can't." She began whacking my back. "Seth that's not fair!"

I turned my head and grinned at her, then held my breath and ducked underwater.

As soon as she was under I let her go and we both swum up to the surface. As my head broke the surface she came up next to me, scowling.

"That's cheating!"

"That is skill," I corrected her. Now my face was close to hers, I realised that her lips had a blue tinge and her teeth were chattering. "Come on, let's get you out."

She didn't reply, just locked herself onto my back again as I began swimming back. I had trouble focussing on swimming when she was clasped on my back and I could feel her shivering against my skin. It subsided a little and I knew it was because of my body heat.

As I walked out of the water I saw Brady and Colin coming up towards me. Brady gave me a very obvious wink but I ignored him and let Kaylie drop off my back.

"Come on, Sam wants us up the top of the cliffs to go diving," said Colin.

"Can I come?" pleaded Kay, but I shook my head. "No, it's too dangerous," I said at the same time as Brady said "You stay down here sweetie with the other women." I threw him a dirty look but Brady just winked again.

"Seth, please? Can I come up the cliffs with you?" I shook my head. "Sorry Kay, but it's not my decision. I promise I'll be back." I leaned in and kissed her on the cheek, then left with Colin and Brady.

Colin was eyeing me suspiciously. "You just kissed her."

"Yeah," I said soberly. I hadn't thought about it, I just leaned in and kissed her. It felt so… natural.

Brady in the meantime was grinning. "He's had a taste and he wants more."

I punched him hard in the shoulder as we started to follow the path up the cliff. "Shuttup Brady."

He just chuckled.

"But still," said Colin in a low voice, "She's got to be playing at something. She can't just kiss you and walk off."

Colin had been in an 'analytical, psychiatrist' mood since patrol last night, when he'd seen what she'd done. It was Brady who tagged him with that, and I couldn't help but admit that he was right.

We were at the top of the cliffs by now. Nearly all of the wolves were up here now, except a few of the younger ones that were still on the beach.

Sam grinned at us all. "I bags first jump." At that moment Jared ran past him and jumped off the cliff.

"Bagsing is for losers!" he managed to yell as he fell down. We heard the splash of his body hitting the water, and then Sam dived off.

When it was my turn, I hesitated on the very edge as I looked over. It was longer down than I'd remembered. I pushed off the rocks, head first, down into the water.

"_SHIT!_" I screamed as I realised I hadn't jumped out far enough. Heading right towards me was a huge boulder protruding from the cliff-face. It whacked against my head and blood began trickling into my eyes as I fell the last few metres into the water.

Through the pain, as I fell into the water, I registered a dark figure coming towards me from above. Then it became too much and I blacked out.


	8. Chapter VIII

********

The truth sounded better than a thousand lies.

And yet, there was a piece of the puzzle missing… I just couldn't figure out what.

*******

"SETH!!!!" someone was screaming at me. Kaylie?

"Seth I hate you I hate you I hate you don't you dare leave me!"

It was Kaylie, I realised dimly. I had to find her. I had to find her voice.

"Please Seth, it's coming after me," Kaylie was pleading. "Seth, it's coming closer! Seth please, it's eyes are red!"

_Vampire_. I had to find her or it would get her, my Kaylie.

"KAYLIE!" I roared as I sat up, then I was coughing and hacking as the salt water burned my throat. "What the…"

Something flew at me and locked her arms around me so tight I couldn't breathe.

"Seth, oh my God, Seth, you are _never_ going cliff diving again, do you hear me?" Kaylie pulled back and to my horror there was blood all over her. "Kaylie, you're bleeding."

"It's not my blood, silly," she said softly, moving around so that she was sitting next to me. "Don't tell me you forgot what happened. You better not have amnesia."

I tried to think but there was a dull pounding in the back of my head that was growing louder.

Suddenly it all rushed back.

"Cliff-diving," I muttered. "I didn't run up. Stupid."

"Exactly, that was stupid, you could've _died_," Kaylie was very flustered as she jumped up to her feet. "Sorry Emily, can I have some more towels?"

"Wait, what happened?" I asked groggily. "I saw someone coming down from above…"

"It was me, you absolute idiot," came Brady's voice. I turned and saw him. His eyes were all red and swollen, almost as if he… but that couldn't be right. Brady didn't cry.

"As soon as you started yelling, I jumped right after. You're lucky I did, or else the current would've pulled you under."

"Wait, wait, wait," I said. I realised that I was in the forest, and there were about a dozen people gathered around me. "What happened to the beach party?"

Sam, who was standing to my left, frowned. "It's still going. According to everyone out there, including your sister who refused to go cliff-diving, the current pulled you under. We had to get you out in case you got pneumonia because only a few days ago you recovered from the flu in Alaska," said Sam pointedly, "remember?"

"Yeah," I said slowly, trying to remember the story in case anyone outside of the pack asked. "Are you ever going to tell them?"

"Probably," muttered Sam. "But for now that story stops any panic."

Something struck me as hilarious and I started laughing hysterically. Everyone seemed to step back and they all gave me wary looks.

"Lee's gonna kill ya when she finds out you didn't tell her that I was on the brink of death," I said to Sam. Even at this, Sam chuckled. "Yeah, I'll deal with that bullet later."

"Wait," I said, realising something. "What's she doing here?"

"_She_ has a name," said Kaylie from behind me. She laid out towels on the grass and pushed me down onto them so that I was laying back. My head was on her lap and I closed my eyes, though I kept speaking. "What is Kaylie doing here? I thought I heard her voice…"

"My idea," said Emily. "You know why she's here, although she doesn't. And you heard her voice because I knew Kaylie in danger would be the only thing to bring you back quickly."

"But she said…"

"Emily told me what to say," said Kaylie quietly. I looked up at her then, her face was framed by the sun and I couldn't help but smile. She looked like an angel. She was wearing the lime green dress again but the smile on her face was mismatched. "She said you would explain."

Sam nodded at me. "We'll be heading off now. Kaylie's a capable nurse, she'll watch over you." The wolves and Emily began to walk away, but I called out "Brady?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks."

It seemed to be enough for him, because he nodded and walked off.

I closed my eyes and before I knew it, I drifted off to sleep.

XxX

It was late afternoon before I opened them again. The sun was setting and I was lying out on the towels with my head pillowed on an improvised pillow, made out of Kay's beach bag.

The bandages were off, I realised, and the pounding in my head had faded to the point where I barely noticed.

Kaylie.

I sat up and looked around.

Kaylie was sitting, cross-legged, a few metres from me, holding what looked like a white and red cloth in front of her. It was a bandage, I realised as I smelt my own blood. But it was Kaylie's face as she watched me… she was almost scared.

"Seth?"

"Kay, are you alright?"

She shook her head slowly, then she dropped the bandage and strangely she leaned forward and crawled towards me.

"Seth…" she said slowly. She paused, then began speaking so fast I could barely catch on to what she said. "Only three hours ago you were bleeding like crazy. You were unconscious and Sam said that part of your cranium was cracked. And now… now… you're moving around! Like normal! I can't even find a scar! Emily said you'd explain but I can't really see how you can! CLEARWATER!" She yelled at me as she rose to her feet. Surprisingly I was cringing back as her voice grew louder and louder.

"YOU WERE ON THE BRINK OF DEATH TODAY! And now you're not even BLEEDING. THAT'S NOT NORMAL!!!!!" Her eyes were wide and bloodshot, and ringed with purple. She was yelling her head off at me but she was my imprint – I knew what she wanted, and needed. I stood up and pulled her into my arms. She struggled at first and even tried to hit me, but then she started to cry. I pulled her in closer, sighing softly as her body fit perfectly into mine.

"Seth," she finally managed to say, "you were on the brink of death today. Brady was _crying_ for goodness sake. And Sam wouldn't let me call the hospital. He broke my mobile!" she sounded angry again for a second, but then she exhaled and relaxed into me, before looking up.

"You could've died today. I was so scared."

I chuckled. "Don't worry, it takes a lot more than a rock to get rid of me."

We cleared up the towels and bandages and put them in Kay's bag, and were holding hands as we walked back up to the beach. The sun was more or less set by now, except the red painted at the horizon. There was a large flickering orange light near the beach though, and as we walked from the forest dirt to the sand of the beach, I saw Emily and Sam coming towards me.

"Are we already for the bonfire?" I said brightly. Sam shook his head and Emily handed Kaylie two stacked plates covered in foil.

"Seth, you're going to explain today to Kaylie. _Properly_."

My eyes widened. No, I couldn't. "Sam, please…"

"Seth. Do as I say." My head began pounding, much worse than it had when I'd hit the cliff-face. His words were laced thickly with the Alpha command. When I didn't reply the pain increased tenfold. I dropped to my knees, clutching my head.

"No," I managed to groan. "I won't."

"What are you doing to him?! Stop it!" Kaylie dropped down to her knees and put her arms around me.

The pain receded a little.

I looked up at Sam. He wasn't backing down. I could see it in his eyes – he didn't want to do this, but he had a duty to.

"Fine," I said through gritted teeth.

Almost immediately the pain faded and I started to breathe again.

"Come on," I muttered to Kaylie, tugging her back into the forest. I heard Sam's voice.

"Seth? I'm only doing what I think is right."

XxX

"Seth?"

I kept walking, pulling her along.

"Seeeeth?

I ignored her. We had to keep walking, deep into the forest, where no one could find us.

"Clearwater!" she finally yelled. "You're hurting me!"

I stopped dead in my tracks and carefully lifted her arm up. There was a red ring traced around her wrist where I'd gripped it too hard.

"Sorry," I muttered, but feeling worse than I had when Sam had gone all alpha on me. I had hurt her…

"It's fine," said Kaylie as she sat down. She motioned to the ground in front of her and I sat down too.

"Explain," she ordered. I chuckled.

"Seth! Stop laughing, this is serious!"

"I know I know… ok." I took a deep breath. "Look, I won't blame you in the least if you run off screaming and never want to see me again."

"That's what Sam said," she muttered and I chuckled again.

"And I'm not crazy either. The knock to the head didn't do anything to me, I swear. The reason I healed so fast… and the reason I hang out with the pack and Sam and stuff…you know how every time I bring you to one of these bonfire things, Quil Senior or Billy Black tell our tribe's legends?"

"Seth, what's that got to do with it?" she sounded curious though, and reached out for my hand. She flipped it over, tracing the lines on my palms as I spoke.

"They're true."

To my surprise, she was quiet for a long time. Then she looked up, looked at me directly in my eyes, and whispered "Prove it."

I stood up, turned around and walked off behind some trees, and quickly stripped out before phasing. My senses sharpened and my viewpoint sunk down, but not by much. Now on all fours I walked slowly into the clearing where she was sitting.

She jumped to her feet, not to run away from me but to come closer. Her hand was extended in front of me and I sniffed her hand, taking in the scent that I would always be addicted to.

She giggled and moved her hand forwards, stroking my face. I automatically leaned into it, and soon she was hugging me, her face buried into my fur.

After awhile I barked once. As much as I loved this peace, this simplicity, I also needed to speak to her again.

I turned and began walking into the forest, but she started to follow me. I growled and she jumped back. Damnit, I had scared her. I turned back and whined, then put my wet nose next to her face.

"Seth!" she laughed. "Ok, I get the point." She sat down, cross-legged on the spot. I walked back into the trees where my clothes were, changed, and came back. She was still on the exact same spot as before.

"Well?" I asked tensely. She just smiled. "Well what?"

"What do you think of it all? It doesn't creep you out at all?"

She thought about it. "No. It's actually kinda cool. And you know," she added, "a lot of the people on the Rez have guessed. Their just rumours but you'd be surprised at the number of people have figured out that something's going on."

I laughed. "Men turning into wolves? It honestly doesn't bother you?"

She grinned. "Nup. It takes more than that to scare me off, you should know that, Clearwater."

I sat down with her, and we talked for a long time. I explained about Taha Aki and the spirit wolves, and the freakish body temperatures, and the Cold Ones. I told her about the Cullens and Jacob, and then the huge fight for Renesmee.

But in my whole explanation, I never mentioned imprinting.


	9. Chapter IX

CHAPTER IX

**AN: I can't figure out if this is a good chapter or not but I'll put it up anyway and see what you guys think :) I might rewrite the second half, though**

**One note: at Forks, the La Push guys are really popular. I know in a lot of people's fanfics their not, but I figured, werewolves are the opposite of vampires right? And when the Cullens went to school, everyone kind of avoided them, so it'd be the opposite if the werewolves went.**

**Plus they're all really cute and stuff, ha ha**

**Bring on 2010 **

**Roman numerals are awesome**

**Lena xo**

******

"So Jake just followed the vampire family up north? Left his home, and his family, and his duties on the Rez just to protect them?"

I couldn't be sure but I saw something in Seth's face change.

"It's complicated. He used to love Bella… well, he still loves her but he used to be _in_ love with her. He has a strong friendship with Edward and they more or less appointed him as guardian of Ness."

"Sweet," I said, grinning. "Having a werewolf protector."

He smiled at me then. "You've got one, too, you know."

******

Colin's jaw dropped. "You didn't tell her about imprinting?"

Brady started laughing. "Dude, Sam is gonna _kill_ you."

I screwed up my face. "I couldn't tell her. I just _couldn't_. It didn't feel like the right time."

Brady punched me in the shoulder then. "It's nothing to do with 'the right time'. It's 'cos you're a wuss."

"Shuttup Brady!"I yelled as he laughed and started running. I sprinted after him, tackling him to the dirt.

"Alright, break it up ladies," said Mum as she came out of the house holding a huge platter of chocolate-chip cookies.

We were in my backyard and had just finished up patrol, swapping with Leah, Quil and Embry. Brady was now pre-occupied with the food my mum had just set on the table. He took one of the bigger cookies and bit into it.

"Mmmmmm," he said, "this is almost as good as Emily's cooking."

Mum glared at him, then picked up the plate and started walking back to the house with it.

"Wait wait wait Sue! I was kidding! It's just as good."

She stopped but didn't turn around.

"Ok! It's better than Emily's cooking!" Mum turned around, placed the plate back on the table, and slapped Brady over the head. "That's for lying," she chided smiling, but he just grinned and began shoving more of the food down his throat.

"Seth," she added, "it's one o'clock, you better get going."

"Ooooooh," said Brady through a mouthful of food. "You better get going, loverboy." I growled. "Shuttup," I said as I walked to the truck.

XxX

"Just four of the steak sandwhiches…and four bottles of coke. The biggest bottles," I added to the waitress as she raised her eyebrows. She wrote down my order as Kaylie muttered "And Emily reckons you've got the smallest appetite."

"And what will you have?" the waitress asked Kaylie.

"Umm…" she looked at the menu. "Chocolate milkshake and chocolate cake, please." As the waitress walked off, I said to Kay, "All the junk food?"

"Yeah," she said distractedly. "I eat chocolate when I'm stressed."

"And play video games," I added. Kaylie stopped and stared at me for a moment, before looking down.

"It's the final exams, Seth! What if I fail? Then I'll never get into college, and if I don't get into college, my parents will…" she drew her index finger across her throat. I just laughed.  
"Are you kidding, Kay? You're studying like crazy, there's no way you could fail."

I wasn't exaggerating either, we'd just spent the last three hours "studying" (i.e. Kaylie studying, me sitting with the books in front of me and watching her study). I'd finally managed her to come with me up to Forks for a break, to the one small deli that was the only thing even remotely like a restaurant.

As she drank the milkshake and picked at the cake, I started a conversation I'd been meaning to have for awhile.

"So… which college have you chosen?" To my surprise, Kaylie bit on her lower lip.

"Well, I wanted a college closer to home, but… I've put in an application for a scholarship in Albany Medical College in New York."

My hands were shaking. New York was too damn far away… Unless I came with her. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath and the shaking stopped. "You're training to be a doctor?"

"Sort of," Kaylie smiled shyly. "The occupation advice that we were given last week suggested me for the medical field. Especially research and stuff into how diseases work. Dad and Mum think it's a brilliant idea, and apparently AMC is the best." We were both quiet for a moment as the waitress came and placed three plates and three bottles on my side of the table.

"What about you? What college have you chosen?" said Kaylie as I began shovelling food into my gut.

"Well," I said between mouthfuls, "The occupation advice reckoned I'd be good at engineering." She was quiet for a moment, then laughed. "I have no idea how you manage to maintain a solid B plus average with all the werewolf stuff going on." I opened the first of the coke bottles. "Actually, I have no idea how I managed it either."

XxX

"But Kaylie," I whined, "I'm boooooooooorrrreeed."

"I can tell," she muttered, copying down something from a chemistry textbook. "Why don't you study?"

"We've been studying for two hours," I said pointedly. As soon as I'd driven her back from the deli, Kaylie had hit the books again.

She sighed, rubbing her eyes. Only now I realised that there were purple rings around her eyes.

"Kay," I said suddenly. "How much sleep do you get each night?"

To my surprise, she snapped her chemistry book shut and said sarcastically, "I don't know, Clearwater, I don't watch the clock until I fall asleep."

I raised my eyebrows. "Sorry, I didn't know it was such a personal question," I murmured. I watched her as she dropped her head into her hands, sighing again.

"It wasn't," she mumbled. "I'm sorry Seth. I hate chemistry…"

"It's fine," I said brightly. "Come on," I stood and took her hand, pulling her up to her feet. "You need another break."

An hour later we were starting yet another round of wii tennis.

"Prepare to get your ass kicked, Clearwater."

"Didn't you say that for the last three games?"

She scowled. "Yeah? What of it?"

I grinned. "I bet you in the last three games."

She didn't reply, instead just whacking me on the shoulder with her controller.

"Watch it, you'll break that," I warned. At that moment the ball sailed past her, and she slapped me on the arm.

"Clearwater! Don't talk to me, you're distracting me."

I just grinned.

Within the game, the ball bounced towards her.

"Look out!"I yelled, giving her a good shove just as she tried to hit the ball.

"Seth!" she yelled as she missed it. I grinned.

"Sorry, I thought there was a tennis ball flying towards your head."

She mumbled a string of words, all about me, the nicest of these being "stupid mutt."

"Where did you pick up language like that?" I asked in fake shock.

"I hang around you too much," she answered, grinning.

For the next match I spent the whole time tackling her, covering her eyes, messing up her hair and virtually doing anything I could to distract her from the game. She whacked me a lot of times, but on the whole was laughing and smiling again, which was what I wanted. I was starting to think this studying thing was bad for her.

When the match ended, which, to no one's surprise, I'd won, Kaylie was ready for revenge.

"Ready Clearwater?"

"Ready as I'll ever be," I muttered as the game started. Kay served, but as the ball headed to me her head suddenly blocked the screen.

"Kay!" I yelled, dodging to the side, but it was too late.

Next time, she stood behind me and her hands covered my eyes.

After that she hung onto my arm, using her whole weight to try and hold it down, so I couldn't hit the ball.

I let out a low growl. I hadn't realised how annoying this could get.

It was her net attempt to distract me that worked best, however.

She stepped behind me and I thought she was going to cover my eyes again but this time, as the ball flew towards me, she jumped onto my back.

Every thinking process in my head grinded to a sudden halt.

All I could think of was about her, and how she was positioned on me. Her legs were locked around my waist, and her arms were around my neck. Her whole front was pressed against my back, and her head was resting on my shoulder. I could hear her breathing, right in my ear.

"Seth?" asked Kaylie in a soft voice. It was then that I realised I had dropped the wii controller and was standing completely still.

Then she did the worst thing she could've done. As she began to slip, she tried to shift herself, and ended up grinding her hips against me. I bit back a moan, and this time Kaylie froze too. I'm not sure how long we stayed still like that, but eventually I reached up and unclasped her hands from around my neck, and she slid off of me. I turned to face her and I realised that her heart-rate was going incredibly fast; she was biting her lower lip, a sure sign she was anxious; and she was…blushing.

I realised that I was blushing, too.

There was an awkward silence until I found my voice.

"Erm…I better get back. It's pretty late," I said, knowing full well I normally left hours later than this. Kay just nodded, muttering "yeah".

She walked me to the front door. "Are you coming back tomorrow?" she asked as I started heading to the truck.

"Nah, you've got to come to my place tomorrow, ok?"

"Alright," she replied, still a little subdued. Without really thinking about it, I jumped back up the few steps of her porch until I was standing right in front of her. I leaned in and she automatically closed her eyes, but I leaned in and kissed her cheek. I pulled back, and she opened her eyes, and we both stood there for a moment, looking at each other.

"Night," I whispered. I turned around and walked to the truck, opening the door and jumping into the driver's seat. Just before I shut the door, I distinctly heard her whisper back, "Night."

XxX

I drove home incredibly slow, thinking. I never would've kissed her normally. I had on the beach, but everything on the beach had been overshadowed by my jump off the cliffs. I sighed, remembering her in her swimsuit. Damnit… and now, today. How could she miss it? How could she not realise that I at least _liked_ her, let alone wanted to marry her, and wanted her to have my wolf-babies…

Shuttup Seth, I mentally snapped at myself.

In an attempt to distract myself, I turned on the car stereo.

Instantly the loud blaring noise of electric guitars and guy screaming wordless lyrics blasted into my ears.

"Leah," I muttered, switching the stereo from CD to radio. The voice of the radio announcer came over the speakers.

"_And we have now the new song from Taylor Swift, the singer of the number one hit 'Love Story'…_"

I groaned. Claire had been obsessed with Love Story, and after Quil had given her the song, she'd ran around the house giving private performances to all of her 'uncles'. The catch was that she didn't know any of the lyrics except "you'll be the prince and I'll be the princess, it's a love story, baby just say yes." As a result, she "da da da'd" and "la la la'd" her way through the rest of the song.

I reached forward to change the radio station when Taylor Swift started singing.

"_You're one the phone with your girlfriend, she's upset_

_She's going off about something that you said_

'_cos she doesn't get your humour like I do_."

I froze for a second, in mid-reach towards the stereo. All I could think of was the time Kaylie had made a joke about girls being smarter or superior to guys or something like that. I had laughed, but Kamal hadn't spoken to her for a week.

I was driving even more slowly now, listening to song.

"…_and she'll never know your story like I do._"

"Damnit," I wshipered. I was listening to the song and even though Taylor was singing about a guy and I was thinking about Kaylie, everything she was singing applied.

As I listened to the song, the words that I remembered were the ones that I could relate to.

"_Dreaming 'bout the day when you wake up and find_

_That what you're looking for has been here the whole time_

_If you could see that I'm the one who understands you_

_Been here all along so why can't you see?_

_You belong with me_

_You belong with me._"

For all I know, Taylor Swift could've stepped into my mind, read what was in there, and written it all into a song.

By now I was at my house. I killed the engine but left the radio on.

As Taylor sung, my head began swimming with little flashbacks, almost like pictures.

Kaylie standing in the surf with her yellow sundress.

Her leaning her head against my shoulder.

Her laughing at Emily's house as Claire tried to dance with her.

Her crying in my arms just after I cracked my skull on the cliffs.

"_Standing by here, waiting at your back door_

_All this time how could you not know? Baby,_

_You belong with me_

_You belong with me_."

My hands started shaking and the anger inside me started to grow.

It wasn't fair.

How could I have been there for two years and she never noticed? She'd chosen Kamal instead, even though I'd always been there for her. Even after he'd hurt her, she chose him again instead of realising who was waiting there the whole time. It was to the point where even her boyfriend knew how I felt about her, and _she_ still didn't.

The rest of me was trembling now. I shoved myself at the door, breaking the hinges.

I'd sacrificed so much of my own happiness for her. They were my worst two years, and also my best. I wanted her to be happy.

But why couldn't she be happy with me?

She keeps kissing me. But what does it mean anyway? Maybe she's just playing at something.

Why couldn't she just fall in love with me? I know you can't help who you fall in love with.

I certainly couldn't help imprinting on her.

My whole body was shaking violently. I stumbled out of the door and onto the ground, trying to calm myself down.

It was the bridge of the song that did it.

"_Oh, I remember you driving to my house_

_In the middle of the night_

_I'm the one who makes you laugh_

_When you know you're 'bout to cry_

_I know you're favourite songs_

_And you tell me 'bout your dreams_

_Think I know where you belong_

_Think I know it's with me…_"

I started running, bursting from my clothes as I phased into the huge sandy wolf. I headed straight to the forest, letting out a loud howl.

Maybe if I ran fast enough, I could outrun my problems.

As I ran into the dark cover of the forest, I heard someone yelling "Seth?! SETH!!!" but I ignored Leah and kept going. I wasn't sure where, but I had to go now.


	10. Chapter X

CHAPTER X

**AN: Welcome to 2010 people! Last night was fun, fireworks are awesome ;)**

**Just some quick notes before the story starts:**

**I THINK it might be winding down. Then again, I thought that five chapters ago. I'm just going to keep writing. I'm not sure how it'll end but Seth & Kaylie's story will continue in another one, about the mass of the pack... but you'll see that one when it uploads :D**

**I was looking up other songs that have the theme of "You Belong With Me", but from a guy's point of view, and the best ones were Like It Like That, by Guy Sebastian, but my favourite one, and probably the theme song for this chapter, is I Wanna Be by Chris Brown. If you don't like Chris Brown *cough*Indie*cough* then just look up the lyrics, they're really cute.**

**Enough of me rambling on... quick disclaimer: in the previous chapter I do NOT own the lyrics of You Belong With Me**

**Lena xo**

*********

"He's been gone for three weeks! You guys aren't even doing anything! Aren't you trying to find him?" I realised my voice was about an octave higher than normal.

"We don't need to find him. He knows where he's going and he can come back when he wants to. He's a werewolf, Kaylie, it's not as if there's anything out there that can get him," said Colin reasonably. Brady and Leah were there too, and I heard Leah mutter something under her breath.

"But it doesn't make sense," I said desperately. "Why would he leave in the first place?"

Colin flung Brady a 'look' and Brady shrugged. Colin turned back to me. "That's for him to tell you."

"Leah?" I asked imploring, but she shook her head.

"He asked us to pass on a message to you, by the way," said Colin. My hopes lifted. "Yeah?"

"Keep studying. Don't fail your finals."

Oh.

"Yeah. Ok. And you tell him that he better come back soon."

**********

While I was … away… I decided.

I couldn't leave things like this.

I had to tell her.

Under the cover of night, in the forest behind Kaylie's house, I phased and pulled my sweatpants back on, before creeping to the edge of the forest as a clumsy human.

Damn, I thought. I can't see her room from here. I eyed the tree next to me, a huge oak. Hopefully it could hold my weight.

I started pulling myself up the huge tree until I was high enough for the branches to not break below me. I looked into her bedroom, which was dark.

Damnit. It wasn't that late was it?

That's when the voices started to get louder.

"Maybe I don't _want_ to go to college, Dad! Maybe I want to stay here."

"In this backwater town?!"

"Yeah, in this backwater town! It's my home, Dad, I don't want to be anywhere else but _here_."

There was a pause. "It's not about Seth Clearwater, is it?"

"What are you talking about Dad!"

"I'm just saying, your judgement at the moment may be…"

"This isn't about Seth Clearwater! It's about ME and MY choices and I might make the same choices as you but I won't regret mine!"

The light in her bedroom switched off and I heard slamming doors. I leaned forward, trying to peer into her bedroom window, but the lace curtains were down and I couldn't see clearly. I tried to think back. Kaylie's Dad was at home, which was kind of unusual. He had been one of my Dad's best friends, but was a complete workaholic. He ran the garage that most of the Pack worked at, and since the mechanics in Forks stopped working they'd been getting more than enough business. My mind flashed back to a conversation Kaylie and I had about her Dad a few months ago.

"_I love my Dad, honestly. He works hard so that me and Mum get everything we'll ever need. I just wish that he'd be home a little more._"

Suddenly the backdoor slammed open and Kaylie walked out, with her schoolbag on her back. I withdrew into the shadows of the branches, but she didn't look up, just marched straight into the forest.

She shouldn't be in the forest by herself, not at night, was my first thought. As silently as I could I climbed down the tree, dropping to the floor.

She was about ten metres in front of me, and as soon as I hit the floor she whipped around, eyes squinting in the dark.

By the moonlight I saw the teardrops running down her face.

"Kaylie."

She jumped, then as I walked out of the tree's shadows she relaxed. "Seth."

Then she turned around and kept walking into the forest.

"Wait! Where do you think you're going?" I hissed, running to catch up with her. She rubbed her eyes, trying to dry the tears.

"I don't know. I don't care. You shouldn't, either."

"Oi," I said frowning. Stop, now, and tell me what I've missed."

"Why did you leave anyway?!" she suddenly shrieked at me. "I _needed_ you Seth and you upped and left!"

"It's complicated," I said softly, trying to reach towards her, but she flinched away from me. I winced, as if she'd hit me. "Please don't," she whispered. "I just… I need to think… I need…" I reached forward again, slower this time, and stopped when my hand was an inch from her face. When she didn't move, excruciatingly slowly I brushed the tears from her face.

"You need to breathe," I whispered. The rings around her eyes seemed even more prominent in the moonlight. I was curious because usually I slept, in wolf-form, in the forest outside her house, but when I was awake in the really early hours of the morning, the light in her bedroom was never on.

She sighed, and slowly sat down, removing her backpack. I reached for it, asking, "What did you put in here anyway?"

"I don't know," she murmured. "Clothes. Chocolate."

I couldn't help but chuckle at the last one as I sat down next to her. "What's been going on?"

"I don't know, Seth. I just don't know. I can't do it. I'm barely struggling through my exams at the moment. And then I'll have to leave La Push for New York! I stayed there, at my aunts once. It was awful," she shivered. I automatically put my arm around her, and she leaned into me. "I couldn't sleep," she whispered. "It was too noisy."

I chuckled again. "I don't think you've been sleeping too much lately anyway."

She shook her head, sighing and leaning back into me even more. "That's… that's something else. But this… it's like my dad is trying to make my decisions for me."

"He wants what's best for you."

"_I_ want what's best for me, too."

"Still," I said lightly. "Tell me exactly what's going on."

"When he was my age," she said quietly, "he wanted to travel. He went to college, but later dropped out, and worked on a ship or something as the mechanic there. When he came back, he met my Mum, and they married, and they stayed in La Push. But he doesn't like it here. He said he wants me to be… more. I want to travel too," Kaylie said, suddenly sitting up. "But I want to come back. I want to come home. I don't want to _leave_ home yet. Do you know what I really want to be?"

"No," I said, pulling my arm back. She sighed yet again and shifted closer to me, but didn't do anything else.

"I want you to guess," she said. I raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

"I want to see how well you know me."

I thought about it, about her grades. She was best in maths, and with the exception of chemistry, was brilliant at science.

I stopped looking at her grades and looked at her, and how I knew her. Finally I muttered, "You'd hate being a doctor. You would never be able to control _everything_ you know."

She stared at me for a moment, then leaned back into me.

"I don't like it when you go. It gets cold," she whispered, and her eyelids started to drop. I sighed, liking the feeling of her against me, then started to stand up. "Kaylie, we can't stay here."

"Why not?" she mumbled, but I laughed. "And what if your dad walked in on us in the middle of the forest sleeping next to each other?"

She jumped up. I couldn't be sure but I think she was blushing. Kaylie cleared her throat.

"Well, ok… where can we go? Your place is too far." I frowned. Typical that my house would be on the other side of La Push to that of my imprints. It was the reason that I used a car for transport more than my wolf form.

Wolf form.

"Stay here," I ordered. "And when I come back, you have to jump on my back."

"What?" she asked, confused. I looked at her bag. "And you might want to stick that on your back," I added as I walked off into the trees.

In the cover of the deep forest, I stripped off, tying my sweatpants to my leg with my leather cord. Then I phased.

The feeling was smooth, and I immediately felt my senses sharpen – she was ten metres to the east, but I could hear her heart beating as if she were right next to me. I also heard the voices.

"_Seth? You're back?_" asked Leah, surprised. She, Quil and Jared had patrol at the moment. Jared and Quil were to the east of the Rez, both their minds on their imprints.

"_Yeah._"

"_You're going to tell her._"

"_Not now,_" I answered as I started walking back to Kaylie. "_Not after this._" I heard Leah mentally growl. "_Don't you dare change your mind. You have to tell her, at the very least that you're in love with her._"

"_At the very least,_" I repeated as Kaylie came into my view. I whined, and her head flipped up, looking at me. "Seth?" I heard her breathe. She'd only seen me in my wolf form once. I whined again, then let my tongue loll out like a puppy. She giggled, then stopped abruptly.

"Jump on your _back_? Are you kidding me?" I let out a low bark, walking so I was right next to her. She sighed. "I trust you too much," she whispered as she threaded her hands through my fur. "What do I do? Just jump up? You know that I have _no_ experience in this whatsoever. I haven't even ridden a horse before." I let out a low growl and she laughed.

"Yeah, I know, you're not a horse." I walked, on all fours, to the nearest tree stump and barked. She raised an eyebrow at me.

"This would've been a lot easier if you'd brought your truck," she muttered as she stepped onto the tree trunk and then jumped onto my bag. Her arms went around my neck and she buried her face into my fur. I let out a happy bark.

"As ready as I'll ever be," she muttered, and I started running.

I stopped as soon as I heard her scream.

"No, don't stop. It's just that you go so fast. I wasn't expecting it." I kept running, my paws hitting the ground at a steady rhythm. Her fingers, threaded into the fur at the front of my neck, tightened their grip.

It took only minutes for me to get to my place. I stopped at our back lawn, and dropped down into a lying position. Kaylie giggled and slid off my back. I walked off into the forest to phase.

When I came back, Kaylie was lying on her back looking at the cloudy sky. Her schoolbag had been dumped a few metres from where she was, and I went over and lay down next to her.

"Do you always run that fast?" she said quietly. I laughed. "No. Usually faster. Depends on what we're chasing," I added in an undertone, but Kaylie shook her head. "That… it's amazing…you can feel the wind through your hair and it's like you're flying…it's impossible to describe," she said enraptured. Then she sighed. "I still don't know what I'm going to do about college."

I took her hand, lacing her fingers through mine. "Whatever happens, you're a legal adult in like two months. Technically, you can make your own choices after then." She sighed, closing her eyes. "Yeah, but after that I don't have anywhere to live, unless I go to college. Besides, I already filed the application. It's not like I can withdraw it."

"You can always decline," I pointed out. "Look, don't worry about that. You can bunk at my place for a couple days, Mum won't mind. Just try and…well, sort yourself out I guess. We still have school tomorrow."

"We?" repeated Kaylie. "_You_ missed three weeks worth of exams. You've more or less flunked, you know."

I shrugged. "There's more to life than college," I pointed out. "There's vampires, and family, and love and friendship," I garbled on. "And, you know. Being a wolf."

"Yeah, the wolf part's pretty cool," said Kaylie, her voice drifting. "Night, Seth."

_I'll tell her tomorrow_, I thought as I stood up, leaned down and scooped her into my arms. I walked into the house and upstairs as quietly as I could, putting her down on my bed and tucking the blankets around her. Mum would figure out what was going on, and if not, Leah would tell her.

I went back outside and phased, running to Sam's. There was going to be hell to pay from my alpha.

XxX

*****

I woke up, feeling a little dizzy, and rolled over, looking at the digital alarm clock on my bedside table. 11? Already? What the…

I was in Seth's bed. He'd probably dumped me here after I'd fallen asleep on his lawn last night.

I shuddered. Last night. I'd call Dad, and tell him I was alright, tell him where I was. Clearwater was right – I needed the time to think through…

I looked back at the bedside table. There were three pictures, but the one that caught my eye was the one of me and him outside my house.

It was sweet, how he kept the picture right next to his bed. He'd told me I was his best friend outside of the pack, and I honestly had felt honoured at that.

But maybe it was best that he didn't know that that picture was my computer's wallpaper.

*****

I walked inside the house to smell eggs frying and I could hear Mum, Leah and Kaylie moving around the kitchen. When I walked in, though, it was Mum and Leah sitting down at the dining table and Kaylie at the stove.

"You're cooking breakfast?" I asked as I sat down next to Leah. For some reason I had the strongest impulse to walk up to Kaylie, wrap my arms around her and plant a kiss on her lips. I realised that the image was in sync with how Sam greeted Emily, and how Jared greeted Kim, each morning.

"Actually," said Kaylie as she served the food out on three plates, "I'm cooking lunch. And I didn't make any for you, shapeshifter," she added as she served the plates up on the table, "So you can eat mine or wait for more."

"Nah," I replied nonchalantly, "I ate at Emily's." The smell of the eggs was making my mouthwater. "Besides, I couldn't eat your food. You need it more than I do." It was true, too. In the light of the kitchen I could see how pale she looked, and she seemed skinnier than normal. Or maybe that was just me paired with the paranoia of the imprint.

To my surprise Kaylie didn't argue, but sat down and started eating with my sister and my mother.

I walked to the fridge, pulling out some sausages wrapped in tin foil, and put them in the microwave to heat up. I grabbed a bottle of orange juice and chugged the whole thing down, before pulling the sausages out, smothering them in tomato sauce, and shoving the sausages in my mouth.

From across the table, my mum frowned. "Seth, have a _little_ more decorum." Leah snorted. "Mum, he has the best table manners out of the whole pack. Except for me," she added. But it didn't matter. All that mattered was the food in my mouth… and the girl sitting to the left of me. I watched Kaylie eat and she wasn't wolfing it down, but cutting it into tiny, perfectly-shaped pieces and eating it piece by piece.

I swallowed. "Kay, do you have to eat so _slowly_?" She flashed me a smile, but kept eating at her excruciatingly slow pace.

When Mum was done she went back into the laundry to do the washing. The phone rang and Leah, with surprising speed, sprinted out of the kitchen to answer it. I looked at Kaylie, but she hadn't noticed anything.

Leah walked in with the phone in her hand. "Seth? It's for you."

I frowned, wondering who would call me. The pack didn't normally use phones to talk, usually just dropping in at each other's houses, it was easy enough. I took the phone out of Leah's hand.

"Hello, Seth Clearwater speaking."

"Hello, Seth." The voice had the smooth and velvet texture that could belong to only one person.

"Hello, Edward."


	11. Chapter XI

CHAPTER XI

**AN: Ha ha this chapter has the biggest dedication ever to **Miss_Alice_Swan**. This was always gonna happen, but she asked for a bit of a Cullen appearance, but told me not to put in too much 'cos this is a wolf story after all ;)**

**I haven't been naming chapters but if this one had a name, it'd be "Cullen Intervention"**

**A couple quick notes on songs: another two for this story are _Just So You Know_ by Jesse Mccartney and _Darling I'll Be Your Werewolf_ by Short Stack.**

**This chapter felt a little weird as I wrote it, so please let me know what you think of it. **

**Don't worry, the pack comes back in the next chapter :)**

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed & faved!**

**Lena xo**

*******

"Hello Edward." I froze. That couldn't be the Edward that Seth had been talking about? Edward Cullen? But it had to be, he didn't know any other Edwards. I'd met Edward Cullen, of course, but back then I hadn't known exactly _what_ he was. All that I really remembered about him was that he had bronze hair, pale skin, and gold eyes that almost completely focussed on the woman who was constantly by his side – Bella.

******

"_SETH_!" called a deep voice over the phone. Jacob.

"_You're on loudspeaker, by the way_," said Edward in an amused tone. I couldn't help but grin. "Hi everyone."

"_Hey Seth!_" came the soft voice of Bella. Despite the transformation I still associated her voice with the pale brunette girl that Jacob had once brought to the reservation bonfire.

"_Hi Seth!_" Nessie – her voice was like a fairy's, all high-pitched and sort of girly. "Hi Ness, hi Jake, hi Bella," I said into the phone.

"_Now,_" said Edward, "_I've called to settle a debt_."

"_Actually, Leah told him to call you—_" cut in Jacob, but I heard a loud _SHHHHHHHH_ and some scrabbling noises, probably Nessie tackling him.

I looked over at Leah with narrowed eyes, but she was talking to Kaylie in a loud voice. "Don't worry about clothes, you can borrow mine…" She avoided eye contact. I scowled and walked with the phone into the living room.

"What debt?" I said into the phone. "I don't owe you anything, do I?"

"_No,_" said Edward. I could practically hear him smiling. "_Actually, I owe you._"

I was silent, trying to figure out when Edward had ever borrowed from me.

"_Leah mentioned that Kaylie was going into college,_" said Jacob. "_You're going to follow her, right?_"

"Yeah," I mumbled into the phone. "What of it?"

"_That means _you'll _have to go to college, right? __I can't see you going to medical college, but I can't see you living on a different campus to her, either__."_ Bella's voice.

"Actually, I was just going to get a job there or something, I didn't…"

"_There's a very nice technical college in Albany with some courses in engineering that would suit __you," _said Edward. I just laughed. "I just missed three weeks of exams. I don't think any college would accept me now."

"_Unless we intervened,_" said Nessie's high voice sweetly. "_You'd be surprised what some bribes __could arrange._"

It took me about a minute to realise what they were talking about.

"No. No, no, no no no no…"

"_Seth,_" said Edward.

"No no no no no…"

"_Seth…_"

"No way in frigging…"

"_Seth! You don't have a choice. I've sent you the application forms by mail, you should get them in the next few days. Once you've filled them out, send them back to me and you've got your place in the Technical School._"

"I can't accept this, Edward."

"_And Carlisle has some contacts in AMC. If Kaylie doesn't win the scholarship, she'll be guaranteed a place anyway_."

"Edward. I won't take this."

There came a laugh over the phone. Bella's, I think. "_Seth, I'm not too sure you have a choice._"

"_Seth,_" said Edward's voice sharply. "_I owe you the four lives sitting in this very room. When Victoria came back with the vampire army, who saved Bella? You did._"

I heard Jacob laugh bitterly. "_If you hadn't saved Bella that day, __Edward would've bought a one-way ticket to the Volturi_."

I didn't say anything.

"_If you hadn't saved Bella,_" continued Edward, "_Renesmee would have never been born. If she hadn't been born, Jacob would've lost his imprint_." He chuckled. "_This is the least I can do_."

"This is blackmail," I muttered. I heard all four of them laugh.

"_The forms will be in the mail within a couple of days. I'm pretty sure that covers everything. We'll talk about plane tickets and apartments later._"

"Wait, what?"

"_Well_," said Jacob, "_You're gonna want to fly back every weekend, right? And as if you and Kaylie would live on separate campuses. A one bedroom apartment should do just fine, right?_" He said cheekily. I growled into the phone. "You're supposed to be on my side."

He laughed. "_I am. Now, I think you have some bashing to do, right_?"

I growled again. "Leah."

"_Seth?_" said Bella. "_Tell S__am__ we're thinking of dropping in on the Rez in a month or two_."

"Yeah, no problem. Look, thanks for everything." I said awkwardly. I could practically hear them smiling now.

"_I've only paid off my life with this, Seth, I still have three lives left_," said Edward before he hung up.

I was shaking slightly as I pulled the phone away from my ear.

Then I jumped to my feet and stormed into the kitchen.

Leah and Kaylie were still at the table. I let out a loud growl and they both jumped. I gave Kaylie a small smile before looking at Leah.

"You didn't."

She stood up, whistling, with her hands in her pockets. "Umm, it's been nice talking with you Kaylie, I have to go and… erm…"

"Leah."

She started heading out the door.

"LEE!"

She smiled abashedly. "Look, in my defence I didn't put any ideas in their heads. I just casually mentioned that you were—umm—" she flashed a look at Kaylie, who was looking at the both of us with a confused expression. "I just mentioned that you skipped school for a few weeks and might have trouble with your college qualifications. Edward made up the rest." She smiled brightly now. "Love you little brother, bye," and ducked out the door.

I growled again but sat down next to Kaylie, my head in my hands.

"What was all that about?" asked Kaylie. I shook my head.

"You don't want to know."

XxX

The next day, Kaylie was in a bad mood.

I love her. I know that much.

But her in this mood is scary. It rivals Leah's temper, for goodness sake.

The first thing that put her into her 'mood' was her call with her Dad. Even though she went to the other side of the house and I blocked my ears, I could still hear their yelling match. When she came she placed the phone back in Mum's hands, quietly said thankyou, then snapped at me, "Hurry up, Seth, we're going to be late to that hell hole," before storming out the door. Mum raised an eyebrow at me but didn't say anything, and I quickly followed her out the door. The idea of school wasn't making her too happy, either.

In the car ride to school her arms were folded and she refused to look at me.

"Kaylie."

No reply.

"Kayyylie."

She blinked once, but other than that no response.

I waved my hands in front of her face.

"KAYLIE!" I finally yelled.

"WHAT!" she roared back.

"Morning," I said innocently. She narrowed her eyes at me and turned back to staring out the window.

I shouldn't really tick her off in a mood like this, but I couldn't help it.

"You're hair's all messy." It was beautiful. I loved her hair, it hung in corkscrew curls around her head in a style not unlike Nessie's. She scowled.

"I know. Shuttup. I didn't get any time to fix it this morning," she snapped, running a hair through it, before turning back to the window. I grinned.

"Kaylie."

"Kayyyyyylie."

"KAYYYYYYYYL---"

"SHUT IT CLEARWATER!"

I let out a low whistle. "Someone's touchy this morning. What's up? Besides the obvious."

She scowled. "I'm not going to tell you."

"Why not?"

"You'll think it's stupid."

"I won't," I said, putting on puppy eyes. "Promise."

"I want to play a video game."

I was silent. "You mean, right now?"

"Yes, right now," she snapped. "See, I told you it was stupid."

"Actually," I murmured, "it's not."

We were both quiet for awhile as I drove down the main road, the windscreen wipers not moving fast enough to wipe away the raindrops falling on the window. I shot a side look at Kaylie, and nearly crashed the car.

There were tears running down her cheeks.

I pulled over onto the side of the road, switching off the engine. I didn't say anything and she didn't either, so we just sat like that for a few minutes. I was staring dead ahead, trying not to show her that I was shaking. She was still staring out the window, into the rain.

"Seth?" she finally said softly. "What do you think I should do?"

"Whatever makes you feel happy," I said automatically, turning to look at her. She sighed. "What if I don't know what makes me happy?"

I chuckled. "Then you're screwed. Look, what if I told you I could come to New York with you?"

Her eyes widened. "You mean…"

"Edward's throwing in some aces," I mumbled. "He reckons he can get me into a technical college in Albany… and maybe an apartment. Two-bedroom," I added at the look on her face. "What do you say?"

She squealed and practically leapt across the gears to hug me.

"You have no idea how awesome that would be. I think I could bear the city if I brought my best friend with me," she said happily, her arms slowly tightening around my neck.

"Kay, I can't breathe," I said and she sat back down with a quick "sorry".

"I'll have to call my Dad later," she said, chewing on her bottom lip as I drove the truck back onto the main road.

"You're scared of the future, aren't you Kay?" I said. I knew I was stating the obvious, but I wanted to see what she said.

"Not really," she said quietly. "I'm scared of change."

I suddenly wished that change was a physical thing, so I could take it and strangle it and kill it for making Kaylie cry.


	12. Chapter XII

CHAPTER XII

**Yeah, I definitely think this story is starting to spiral down... Although I really really don't want it to ha ha I might continue it, but this at least will soon be the end of Part One.**

**:O 29 reviews! Ok so there are people out there with hundreds, but I am honestly very happy with what I've got now. For a first time author(ess), I reckon I'm doing pretty good ;)**

**Seth's story has been heaps fun to write :) Team Seth forever**

**Lena xo**

*****

It was actually a really scary sight. There were over a dozen six foot guys, all incredibly ripped and shirtless, holding axes over their shoulders and grinning in what can only be described as a maniacal way.  
At that moment, a car breaking all the speed limits literally swerved into the driveway. Brady jumped out the back holding an axe too, but Embry came out the front with four chainsaws under his arm.

"Alright," he said grinning. "Let's have some fun."

******

We all kept an eye out on Billy, not just for Jacob's sake, but because Billy was one of the elders and a general good guy. So when he asked for some help to get rid of some trees near the edge of his backyard, Sam more or less called up the whole pack.

"There's only about twelve trees," Billy had protested. "I just need to get rid of them so they won't interfere with the phone line." Sam had shrugged. "Oh well, that's one tree each."

Emily and all the imprint girls, including Claire, were all a couple hundred metres away in Sam's house cooking up a storm for everyone after we got rid of the trees.

All the imprint girls, that is, except Kaylie.

"I want to stay and help," she protested. "I know I can't exactly chop down any trees, but I can drive one of the trucks." The idea was to chop down the trees, then load them onto trailers, which would then be driven to the bonfire site to help build it up.

"If you want," cut in Brady, "I can teach you how to use a chainsaw so you ca--- nevermind," he said quickly as I glared at him."

"You can stay and drive," said Sam. I wasn't stupid enough to argue with the alpha, but I didn't say anything.

"She'll be fine in the car," muttered Sam. "Yeah," I said back as I picked up one of the chainsaws Embry had brought, starting it up. The truth was, the reason I hadn't argued too much was because I knew Kaylie needed something to distract her.

Chopping down trees with this lot would probably do the job.

I flipped the mask over my eyes and started the chainsaw. In the background Embry was measuring out petrol for all of the chainsaws. I watched the angle that I was cutting the tree at, trying to make sure it didn't fall on me, or more importantly, Kaylie.

When the tree collapsed, the rest of the pack started working on it with the axes. I gave the chainsaw to Colin and started helping Kaylie load branches onto the trailer.

"You shouldn't be here, you know, you should be helping Emily," I said as I took a branch from her and threw it onto the trailer.

"But this is fun," she insisted. "I don't want to stay inside with all the other women."

I let out a low growl. "Sometimes you won't have a choice," I muttered, but she heard me. Her eyes flashed.

"That's what you do when a vampire comes too close to the rez, isn't it? You lock all the girls inside and all the boys go out and hunt it down. Leah's lucky, at least she gets a part of the action."

"You have no idea how much Leah's had to suffer," I snapped. "She's nearly died." I saw the look of shock on Kaylie's face, but she smoothed it out into a mask and didn't say anything else.

I jumped into the car with her when she started to drive it to the bonfire site.

"Look," I muttered as she was driving. "I didn't mean it like that. It's just that you have no _idea_ about the sort of danger we get caught up in. It's enough that my sister's been thrown into it as well, I'm just glad that you haven't either."

She was quiet for a few moments as she reversed, trying to position the trailer as close to the bonfire as possible. "It's Ok," she said finally. "It's just I don't like feeling… useless. And it's like you're pushing me to be useless."

I let out a bitter laugh. "Control freak," I muttered as I started throwing branches from the trailer to the steadily growing pile of our bonfire site.

She scowled.

"Don't worry, it's me," I said teasingly. "I'm too overprotective."

"What about you?" said Kaylie finally. "Exactly how many times have you come close to… well, to dying?"

I shrugged. "I don't know, that depends on your definition, I guess. I had to verse a vampire one-on-one before," I said slowly, thinking of Edward's crazy idea of a 'debt'. "That was only a year or so after I started phasing."

Kaylie shuddered. "Emily said they have red eyes. That sounds creepy in itself. But what about actually suffering?"

I looked at her then. She was dressed in a pullover blouse, and jeans, and her hair was all messy and there was dirt smeared over her face. Because of this stupid werewolf imprinting situation, I was in love with her, and it felt like I could never have her.

But I couldn't imagine life any other way.

"Nah, sides from the near-death experience, I don't really suffer," I said with a grin.

XxX

"You said that you'd tell her," said Colin as we chopped down one of the smaller trees with a free axe.

"I know. I will," I said, dodging his question slightly. "I just want this whole … futures thing to clear up. You know?"

To my surprise, Colin groaned. "And then after that you'll make another excuse. And another excuse. And another excuse about why you shouldn't tell her. I've been in your head, Seth. Do you really have any intention of telling her?"

I focussed on the axe and the way it was cutting into the tree.

"I did," I finally said. "Now, I'm not so sure."

Colin shook his head. "Well, you better hurry up, dude. Sam's started talking."

I paused. "What do you mean?"

Colin looked me directly in the eye. "I mean, if you don't tell her soon, he's considering giving one of us permission to tell her."

I growled. "No. He promised he wouldn't interfere with the whole imprinting thing."

Colin shrugged. "Yeah, well, he doesn't think it's fair on Kaylie. And he's only thinking about it. But don't you think," he added, "that she should be getting suspicious about you following her to New York?"

I didn't reply for a few minutes. "I don't know."

"Well, she didn't ask too many questions about Jacob and Renesmee, did she? Did you ever think that she might make the link? Look at the situations. Jacob leaves his home, his Dad, his pack, just to move millions of miles away for a family he has nearly no connection to. You're moving, leaving your home, your mum and your sister, and us, for _her_."

He had a point.

"Look, when she asks questions, I'll answer them," I muttered.

"With the truth?"

"Maybe."

To my surprise, Colin laughed.

"What?!" I snapped, whacking him with the handle of the axe.

"Brady was right."

I growled. "And what was Brady right about?"

Colin grinned. "Over the last two years you managed to talk yourself into persuading yourself that Kaylie would never be yours. And now, she's being handed to you on a silver platter, by _Kamal_ no less. But you're still so convinced that she'll never be yours, that you're certain if you say anything, she'll reject you."

I raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure Brady said that? Because that sounds just a little advanced for him."

Colin laughed again, then sighed. "You know, I wish I had it."

"Had what?"

"An imprint. It's just," he said frustrated, running his hands through his hair. "It's easy isn't it? You're never going to love anyone else except Kaylie. She's all that matters for you. It's just so _simple_." He laughed bitterly. "Me? I can't even hook up, because if I _do_ fall in love with someone and then imprint on someone else, it'll screw up everything."

I was quiet. I had the feeling that Colin had wanted to say this for awhile. With the exception of my sister, he was probably the best at hiding his thoughts from the rest of us.

"It's to the point where I'm scared of hanging out with people outside of the pack. I'm scared of _children_, for goodness sake," he said bemusedly, "in case I imprint on them.

"I'm sorry," he added awkwardly. "It's just the tension of it all. I'm waiting for something that might never even happen."

I smiled at him. "It's alright."

XxX

"What do you think you're doing?" I yelled to Kaylie, running over to help her with a branch that was just too big.

"Helping," replied Kaylie. I sighed, then reached up to help her. "Here, let me—"

At that moment she slipped, dropping the branch. The heavier edge whacked into my shoulder, and I could smell blood, but it wasn't just mine.

"KAYLIE!" I roared, lifting the branch and throwing it to the side. "Are you alright?!"

"Relax Clearwater!" she yelled from the ground. "I'm fine!" By this point, my yell had alerted the rest of the pack and they had all stopped to watch me.

"Shoot," she muttered, looking at her palms.

"What is it?" I asked, running over to her.

"Relax Clearwater, I just grazed my palms, that's all," she said, showing her my palms. I winced as if she had hit me. Her hands were covered in small, repeated scratches that were currently oozing red.

"It could get infected. Sam!" I yelled over to the Alpha on the other side of the yard. "I'm gonna take Kaylie up to your place."

He nodded and by now most of the pack had realised everything was ok. I heard Brady mutter something about "overreacting" let it pass.

"Seth, it's fine. I'll just wear gloves next time," she said, but I pulled her with me, practically shoving her into my truck. I could still smell her blood.

Now I heard _her_ grumbling about overreactions as I climbed into the driver's seat.

"We could _walk_ to Emily's," said Kaylie, but I winked at her.

"I'd have to carry the injured there." That kept her quiet.

She leaned forward, turning on the radio.

"_You've got a smile that could light up this whole town_

_I haven't seen it in awhile since she brought you down_

_You say you're fine I know you better than that_

_Hey, what you doing with a girl like that?_"

I froze, my knuckles turning white as I clenched the steering wheel. To my surprise, Kaylie was singing along with the song. "What is it?" she asked, noticing my tension.

"I don't like this song," I said through gritted teeth. Kaylie switched stations without any questions.

"Kaylie," I said finally. "I need to ask you something…"

"Yupp."

"You know how… how when I started phasing, and I kept dodging you. Did you ever get curious about it?"

She chewed on her bottom lip. "Well, I thought it was sort of… a side effect from losing your dad."

"Oh. And afterwards?"

"What about it?"

"Well," I said slowly. "Did you ever get curious at all? About why I was hanging out with the pack, or the freakish body temperatures, about why I looked like I was quote 'on steroids' unquote," I said chuckling, "Or why I kept disappearing and talking about patrol?"

She paused for a moment. "Sort of. Again, I kind of associated it with the loss of your Dad," she said quietly. "As for you hanging out with the pack…" she paused. "It's not so bad now, but when Sam started the whole pack thing, a lot of people were suspicious. But I wasn't. You'd always hung out with Jacob and Quil and Embry and Colin and all that lot, so it made sense that if they started hanging out with Sam that you would, too. As for the fact that you came back a head taller than me and was completely ripped, I just tied that in with growth spurts," she said sarcastically. I chuckled.

"Plus," she added quietly, "I was just glad to get my best friend back that I didn't really ask any questions. Even later when the kind of… shock died down…I don't know. I wasn't going to complain about your body temperature, that meant I had my own personal heater with me," at this she winked at me and I grinned. "I didn't really associate them with the legends or anything until much, much later."

By now we were at Emily and Sam's, and were both quiet for a few minutes while we went into Emily's.

"Emily! That smells good," I said as I walked into the house that smelt like nothing but food. "Homemade pizzas, right?"

"Yes," she said as she came out of the kitchen. "And you're not getting any till the rest of the pack do. You're not finished already, are you?" I shook my head.

"Kaylie injured herself." As Emily examined my imprint's hands, Kay muttered, "overreacting werewolf."

"Actually," said Emily, "Some of these are quite deep and have dirt in them. The first aid pack is under my bed, Seth," she said as she walked back into the kitchen.

I couldn't help but flash a triumphant grin at Kaylie. "See, I—"

"_Don't_ say 'I told you so.'"

We went down the hallway and into Emily and Sam's bedroom. While Kaylie sat on the bed I leaned under the bed to get the first aid pack.

"This really isn't necessary," she muttered as I spread the anti-septic powder over her hands.

"Yes it is," I replied automatically. I eyed her for a minute. She was always a bit of a control freak, and always stressed when she couldn't organise things. But lately her pressure metre seemed to have broken and she was snapping at every little thing.

"I'm sorry," I said finally. "For not telling you the truth."

She just smiled back. "It's all good, Clearwater. After all, I know the truth about everything now, right?"

"Not quite…"


	13. Chapter XIII

Chapter XIII

**AN: It's coming to an end!! :O**

**Writing this story has been soooo much fun, I really don't want it to end :(**

**I'm considering writing a sister story for this one... I'll see how things go :)**

**I got a bit of writer's block near the end, but then I thought about how Kaylie and Seth would talk, so I wrote it down in my own weird way :P**

**Thankyou to everyone who reviewed this story! I never used to review stories, but I do now - I've realised how much an author/ess needs them ;D**

**Big sorry: with replies to reviews, if I ever send the same message twice, it's cos my internet's been stuffin' up lately, so I sometimes I send them twice just in case**

**Thanks to Indie for betaing my stories, being my confidence booster and someone I know I can trust**

**and oXAliceSwanXo (aka Miss_Alice_Swan) for introducing me to this site! **_She's the reason you're reading this story right now..._

**Lots of love**

**Lena xo**

**ps: open up youtube, or your music player. The song at the end is Down by Jay Sean, ft Lil Wayne... just read and it'll makes sense!**

**Pps: yeah, this is a long AN, but in my defence this chapter is twice as long than it normally is ;)**

**L xo**

********

"Hello, Kaylie speaking."

"Hi Kaylie, it's me."

"Kamal."

"Yeah, I tried to ring Seth but he wasn't answering. Listen, I'm throwing an anti-formal party at the end of the year."

"Really?" My interest picked up. I'd never intended to go to the formal, but this party sounded like a good way to end my high school life.

Albeit the fact that it was at my ex-boyfriend's house.

"Yeah."

"Won't that be kind of mean to the people who're organising the formal?" I said with a bit of a laugh.

"Nahhhhh, it's actually the day before the formal. Madi's idea," he said, referring to his current girlfriend. Nice, pretty, although she probably could do with a few more brains.

That was mean.

"So," Kamal was saying, "Do you think you and Seth'll come?"

"Yeah, definitely," I said into the phone.

"So… are you and Seth…"

"No. Actually we're not," I cut in. "Thanks for your concern though."

I couldn't be sure, but I think I heard Kamal sigh.

"Alright. Come around from anywhere between seven and eight. I've got no idea when it ends. See ya."

*****

I walked into the spare room, where Kaylie was packing her few things into a backpack.

"Thanks for everything, Seth," she said as she put her stuff away. "For letting me stay and all that. And sook my worries out to you," she added with a guilty smile. I chuckled.

"So I guess what you're Dad said was good?"

"Yeah. We made a deal. I'm going to college and I'm going to get a basic degree in medicine. If I don't like it, I can come back to the Rez and apply to be a doctor in Forks or something. If I like the city, I'll apply to study for longer to get a degree in immunology or something. Of course," she added, "That's assuming I get the scholarship."

I smirked. "Don't worry, you'll get in."

She smiled at me. "So you say Edward got the apartment?" I grinned broadly at her. "Yeah. Two-bedroom, second highest floor, about ten minutes drive from both our colleges. Sweet location, ay?"

She smiled, then sighed. "I'm just glad things have… sorted out. I still don't want to go," she added, "but it'll be a lot easier now. Thanks, Seth."

XxX

"I'm going to tell her when we go that anti-formal party thing of Kamal's," I said to Sam. "I promise this time. And if I don't, then I'll step aside and you can tell her."

Sam sighed, running his hands through his hair. "I don't _want_ to tell her Seth."

"I know," I said. "And you won't have to. Hopefully."

Sam drummed his fingers on the desk. "Alright. You can go. Brady and Colin are going, right?" he asked.

"Well, they've been invited. Our whole year was. I'm not sure how they're going to get there, though."

XxX

"Why couldn't you have gotten a lift to Forks?" I said for the tenth time.

"We did. With you," said Brady innocently from the backseat of my truck. Colin grinned beside him.

The front seat was of course reserved for Kaylie, who we were waiting for now at the curb outside her house.

"But you manage to get to school each day just fine," I protested. "Why couldn't you this time?"  
"Because my dad doesn't work at this point in time, therefore he isn't going to Forks, which means you're stuck with us," said Colin.

"It's not you I mind," I grumbled, "It's _him_."

Brady pretended to look shocked. "Me? What did I ever do?"

"_Everything_," I muttered, even though I couldn't help smiling. It was hard to be angry at Brady.

Kamal had told us to dress up casual, so we were all in jeans, and Colin and Brady were both wearing normal shirts. I was wearing a blue button up shirt.

And Brady had bought a couple kegs of beers with him. I'd made him dump it in the back but I could still smell it.

At that moment, Kaylie walked out of her house.

She was wearing her hair up, but the curls from her ponytail were brushing the back of her neck. She had nearly no make-up on from what I could see, and a gold chain with a heart locket were around her neck.

I'd given that to her for her birthday last year.

She was wearing denim short-shorts and a sky-blue singlet.

She was perfect.

"Hey, guys," she said as she jumped into the truck. "Hey Seth."

She was a lot happier now that things had been sorted out with her Dad.

But meanwhile, I was having trouble breathing.

She'd just washed her hair and I could smell her scent mixed in with that of the coconuts. It was driving me crazy.

"So," said Brady casually. "You and Seth are moving into an apartment at New York, right Kaylie?"

"Yeah," she answered sweetly. "What of it?"

"When I come up to New York, I'll sleep in the spare bedroom, if you promise to keep down the noise."

"BRADY!" I yelled as Kaylie leaned over the back and slapped him.

I nearly ground the accelerator pedal into the car's floor. The faster we got to Kamal's, the less time I'd have to spend in here.

As we walked into Kamal's place, I was surprised. There were way more people than were in our graduating year and they were all dancing in Kamal's cleared out living room. The room was dark with the exception of the fluoro green lights shining above us.

Brady and Colin were both grinning as some people they knew started talking. Brady picked out a short blonde girl and they both went off to dance.

"Good luck!" he yelled over the pounding music as they both got pulled into the crowd. I didn't need to ask what he was talking about.

"Hey, about time you guys came!" said Kamal, emerging from the crowd. On his left was a skinny red-headed guy as tall as we were, and under his right arm was a girl with a skirt that was way too high. Not that Kamal seemed to mind.

"Hey Kamal!" yelled Kaylie over the music. She leaned over him and hugged him. "Brady brought some drinks, I don't know if you needed them or not," she added. At her words, my nose wrinkled. I could smell the alcohol in the room.

The red-head, meanwhile, was watching Kaylie with a look that was all too familiar.

"Fuck," I whispered, knowing they'd never hear me over the music.

"I'm Matthew," said the guy, shaking Kaylie's hand formally. She introduced herself, then added, "This is Seth." I saw the guy's eyes widen as he took me in. I couldn't help but smile as I realised I was about half a head taller than him.

"Come on," said Kaylie, tugging at my arm. "I want to dance."

I smirked. "You've known me for what, over seventeen years? I don't dance."

"Then why'd you come here?" she said as the song changed.

"To eat."

"Typical guy," I heard her mutter.

"_Wake up in the morning, feelin' like P Diddy,_

_Got my glasses I'm out the door I'm gonna hit this city_

_Before I leave, brush my teeth, with a bottle of jack,_

'_Cos when I leave for the night I ain't comin' back_."

The voice of the singer was too loud for my hyper-sensitive ears and I raised my hands to cover them.

I watched as Kaylie spoke to the Matthew guy. They were flirting – he'd say something, then she'd laugh, and he started to pull her away.

"Seth!" she yelled over the music. "Are you coming or not?"

_Don't let him take her away…_

"Nah, I'm going outside!" I yelled back, then quickly ducked out of the house.

There was no one in the backyard, and I collapsed onto a bench near the edge of the forest. Like most of the yards in Forks, the back was lined with forest and I looked into the darkness of the trees, tempted to phase.

_Imagine what he's doing to her, right now…_

I growled and jumped to my feet. I had to get out of here, before I phased and ran back in there and ripped Matthew into shreds…

"Seth!"

_Kaylie_, my head automatically answered. I turned around, but she was alone. She laughed. "What are you doing out here by yourself, loner?"

"I don't like the music," I muttered. "You left Matthew alone? I'm not sure he'd like that, you know…"

"Oh, don't," she said exasperatedly. "Don't you dare think like Katherine does."

"What did she say?"

"That me and him would make a good couple," she said casually as she sat down on the bench next to me.

"Well you w—"

"No," she interrupted. "I don't like wrangers."

I smirked. "I'll tell Edward you said that."

She slapped me on the arm, then lay her head on my shoulder.

_You. Have. To. Tell. Her._

"Did you see Kamal's girlfriend?" said Kaylie suddenly asked.

"Hm?" I said, distracted by her curly hair. It had started coming out of her ponytail. "You're hair's all messy."

She pulled the hair lucky out of it and it fell, hitting her shoulders. I sighed, just a little. I think I preferred it down.

"Did you see Kamal's girlfriend?" Kay repeated. I thought back.

"Yeah," I said, not really sure where this was going.

"Do you think she's pretty?"

I thought back. She was brunette. Or blonde? I hadn't really been focussed, Kaylie had been holding all my attention.

"I dunno. I guess. I wasn't really paying attention."

The truth. I promised I'd tell her the truth.

My mind drifted back to something Leah had said a few days ago.

"What if she freaks out on me? And I lose her as a friend, let alone anything else?" I'd said desperately. Leah had looked me dead in the eyes. "Seth, she barely blinked when you told her you were a werewolf. I don't think that much else could scare her off."

"Why?" I said to Kaylie now. "His girlfriend didn't annoy you, did she?"

I tensed, knowing that if Kay said yes, I'd probably run back into the house to eat her…

"No. I was just wondering what you thought of her," said Kay, leaning her head onto my shoulder.

"Kaylie…"

A sudden thought hit me. What if she said she did love me? And then, later on, realised she loved someone else and left me? I could pretend to get over it. For her. But I don't know if I ever really should.

Now I'm just being selfish, I said to myself. Everything's too confusing. Just tell her how you feel, and sort out the rest later.

I felt Kaylie shiver next to me and I chuckled.

"You should've worn jeans," I said as I wrapped my arms around her. She laughed.

"I know, but I wanted to wear something different," she mumbled, leaning into me. "And besides, I've got my own personal heater with me," she said with a smile.

But she was still shivering and there were goose bumps on her arms.

I sighed. I knew what to do, but I also knew the movement would probably kill me. She was only wearing that singlet and her shorts… way too much bare skin…

I pulled her into my lap, wrapping my arms all the way around her. She automatically leaned into me, her head on my shoulder, wrapping her arms around my neck.

"That's better," she murmured. I looked at her eyes – the purple rings around her eyes seemed to have faded a little.

"You've been sleeping lately?"

"Yeah, now that the exams are over," she replied. I wasn't really listening to what she was saying. There was way too much bare skin pressed up against me… I tightened my arms around her slightly.

"Seth!"

"What?" I asked confusedly.

"You always do that," she grumbled. "I'm saying something important and you don't focus on me."

_That's the problem. I'm focussing on you_.

"Besides," she added in a casual tone and a part of me noticed her heart rate speeding up. "Matthew doesn't even know me."

"Subject jump," I noted with a raised eyebrow. "Despite the whole ginger issue, you find him cute, right?" To my surprise, she snorted. "No."

"So if he asked you out, you'd say no?"

She was silent for a few moments.

"Actually, I asked him what my favourite colour was."

"What?!" I leaned back, looking at her. Her face was smooth and she was calm, but her heart was beating erratically.

"He asked me out. And I asked him what my favourite colour was. And he looked at me strangely and guessed light blue. So I walked out and left and came to you instead."

I pulled her back into my arms, sighing, wishing I could keep her there.

"He only knew you for a few minutes," I mumbled. Kay just giggled.

"One song, actually. And I've seen him hanging around Kamal's place before. He's their family friend, he lives in Port Angeles. You know, where Kamal's moving."

We were both quiet for a few moments, then when I spoke, it was in a soft tone.

"Your favourite colour's lime green."

"Hmm?" said Kaylie. She looked at me, her eyes wide.

"You're bedroom's painted sky blue and you're wearing blue now but your favourite colour's lime green. Your favourite animal is the eagle. You hate chemistry. Your favourite food's chocolate. You play video games because you'd rather run away from your problems than face them. You hate any state of mess or disorder. When you stand in the sun, your hair has gold tints in it. You love your Dad, even though you disagree with him a lot. You're a control freak. You have a tendency of bossing me around. And I love you," I finally finished.

I was trembling slightly, but it wasn't from anger. I was burning all over, and it wasn't my normally freakish body temperature. I realised.

I was scared. More than I ever had been in my life.

Her breathing was hitched, I realised. Her heartbeat was erratic, and she was blushing.

Finally, she leaned into me. "You're wrong," she mumbled.

"What?" I thought, trying to think back to everything I had said. I hadn't meant to babble on that much.

"My favourite animal's not the eagle anymore, it's a wolf. And I don't boss you around. Do I?"

"Yes you do," I said, trying to keep my voice light and teasing, but I was tense. Suddenly she sighed and spoke.

"Did you know you were my first crush?" I froze. "Really?" I asked slowly.

"Yes. When I was about nine. And when you left, I tried not to think about it too much, but then you came back. And I was so glad you were back I didn't ask any questions, in case I drove you away again," she said softly.

"And then you left again, for two months, and I was so confused because I was going out with Kamal but I didn't really like him anymore, I liked someone else, and when he came back I realised I'd made the wrong choice. I was going to break up with Kamal but he got there first," she whispered.

"And then you said that you were in love with someone else and she broke your heart and you still weren't over her and I was confused again. That's why I never slept," she murmured. My jaw dropped. "You weren't sleeping over _me_?" Kay just giggled. "Yes. Why?"

I scowled. "Did you know that lack of sleep kills you faster than lack of food?"

She smirked. "You shouldn't be in danger from lack of either, then." I chuckled at this.

"And then you told me what was going on with the wolves. And it all made sense. Except…"

"Except?"

She blushed. "Colin said I wasn't supposed to tell you."

My eyes narrowed.

"He spoke to me yesterday. He said," she whispered, "That Jacob left his home and family and friends for the girl he loved. And he said he knew another werewolf doing the same thing now."

She looked up at me. Damn hazel eyes. She was beautiful. She deserved so much better than me.

*****

"I love you," I whispered. "Your favourite colour's blue. You eat more in one week than most people eat in a year. Your sister loves you. You like to sing in the shower. You hunt down vampires in your spare time. When I get angry, you're the only person who can make me laugh." He laughed then, but he sounded sad.

"There's more to it than that. It ties in with the legends of our tribe." His arms tightened around me. "Do you remember how Taha Aki found his… his soul mate?"

"Yeah," I murmured, closing my eyes and resting my head on his shoulder. My lips were about a centimetre from his neck, and I could feel the heat radiating off of him.

"We call that process imprinting. It's happened to a lot of the wolves. Jared, Sam, Jacob, Quil." He looked straight into my eyes. "Me."

"You imprinted? On…Oh." I said as it clicked. "You imprinted on me," I whispered.

"Yeah. The day I walked into my house and saw you two years ago, I—"

I jumped out of his lap. "Two years!" I yelled at him.

****

"I'm sorry," I mumbled. "I thought we were doing the whole confession thingy," I said, feeling slightly dumb as I said it.

"We _are_," said Kaylie. "And you loved me for _two years_ and you never said anything?!"

"You were with Kamal," I protested. "And you were happy. That's my job, to make sure you're happy. In fact, it's not my job, it's the purpose of my _existence_. You have no idea how strong imprinting is."

Instead of protesting, she climbed back into my lap, burying her head in my neck. I felt her cold mouth touch the hot skin under my jaw, and I shivered.

"You're stronger than me," she noted, her lips moving against my skin. "I couldn't have done it."

"Done what?" I asked, momentarily distracted.

"I couldn't have stood by and watched…you… with someone else."

"That someone else being a guy or a girl?" I asked teasingly. I felt her scowl.

"Don't be silly. Just… anyone."

Her hand reached up to my cheek, pulling my face down, and finally her lips met mine.

***

His mouth was hot, and warm, just like the rest of him. His tongue ran over my lips so I opened my mouth and I felt his tongue move in. He growled, his hands moving to my waist as he pulled me closer. I leaned into him but then he broke the kiss.

***

"You have no idea how long I've wanted to do that," I finally whispered, my forehead leaning against hers. Her breathing was ragged, and her heartbeat was too fast – just like mine. She smiled then. "Likewise. Does this mean we're dating now?"

I smirked. "Dating? Kaylie, I promise now, I'm going to _marry_ you one day." The words slipped out of my mouth, so impulsive, but at the same time it felt natural. Kaylie pressed her lips against my neck again.

"Hmm, I'm going to hold you to that, Clearwater," she murmured against my skin.

XxX

That was the first night we danced. It was an R&B song with a back beat, but I pulled her up.

"What are you doing?" she laughed. I just grinned.

"Dancing."

"I thought you didn't dance," she said as I put my hand on her waist and held her left hand in mine. She put her right hand on my shoulder.

"There are known exceptions," I said. She put her head against my shoulder and we started swaying to the music.

"You know that you've always belonged with me," I whispered in her ear. She looked up at me, smiling.

"I'm happy now," was all she said, and that was all I needed.


	14. Chapter XIV Epilogue

CHAPTER XIV : Epilogue

"_Please forgive me if I seem forward, but I've never been in front of anything like you, it's the last place I ever thought I'd be when I woke up this morning._"

--_Take Me With You_, Secondhand Serenade (theme song for Seth's POV)

"_'Cos I don't know how it gets better than this, you take my hand and drag me headfirst, Fearless."_

--_Fearless_, Taylor Swift (theme song for Kaylie's POV)

"_You drive me crazy half the time, the other half I'm only trying to let you know that what I feel is true, and I'm only me when I'm with you._"

--_I'm Only Me When I'm With You_, Taylor Swift (theme song from now on :D )

**AN: Don't worry. I'll be back. Thank you to everyone for reading this story :)**

**Lena xo**

**PS: Disclaimer: I don't own those lyrics, and I don't own Seth or anyone else from the Twilight saga.**

**I don't own Kaylie either. She'd kick my butt if I ever claimed that :P**

**L xo**

*******

I leaned back into Seth's warm torso, sighing as I did so. He started playing with my hair. I closed my eyes as I felt the warmth from all around me – from the bonfire in front of me, and from the werewolf that was practically wrapped around me.

My werewolf.

******

Kaylie and I were back on one of our weekly trips to the Rez. It had been five months since we started college.

Needless to say, the second bedroom in our apartment usually stayed empty.

I say 'usually' because Kaylie still gets into her 'moods', and then I'd get kicked out of the bedroom. Most of the pack called us a 'married couple' and sometimes I thought they were right.

I'd tried arguing with Edward about the flight tickets. It had been hopeless. He was right though – I needed to fly back so I could at least phase. I crammed my weekdays full of classes and flew back to La Push on Friday afternoon; then I'd fly back Sunday afternoon. Kaylie always came with me and I think she preferred this balance of home, plus college.

A balance of change, plus the regularity that was home.

She leaned back into me now and I started fiddling with her curls. She smiled up at me as Billy started telling the legends to the pack, and their imprints. Then she poked me in the shoulder and indicated the couple on the other side of the bonfire.

She was a new girl – blonde-haired, had green eyes, and was currently sitting next to Colin. He had his arm around her and every now and again would turn to her, placing a kiss on her cheek. Kay smiled up at me.

"Colin's imprint is really sweet. I hope everything goes well for him," she said as I kissed her on her forehead.

"That's Colin's story. I'm just glad mine had a happy ending." Kaylie scoffed.

"With a softie like you in it? Of course it'd end well."

I smirked. "Then again, I ended up with you. That's not exactly my idea of—"

She slapped me playfully. "Don't. Don't say anything."

I grinned, reaching down and kissing her properly. "I'm kidding. It's the best ending ever."


	15. Sequel?

Sequel?

This is an **Author's Note**, I don't normally like doing this but I thought it's only fair to let you know:

I'm most likely **NOT** going to do a sequel for Seth&Kaylie, the most simple reason being that I have no idea how American colleges work or operate [I live in Australia]. If I did do a sequel it would probably have a major time skip, over the college years.

There is some good news though ;) : Collin and his imprint were introduced in the epilogue and I've started a story about them. Kaylie and Seth are filtered throughout that story (I wasn't going to let my fanfics interwine but they did anyway) so if your interested check it out, it's on my profile. It's called **Here Without You** and it's a little more serious to what I normally write and it's a little different to You Belong With Me.

Again thankyou to everyone who read, reveiwed, faved, etc this story :) Seriously my confidence level in writing has always been low, so seeing that so many people like this story is a big relief.

Lots of love,

Lena xo


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